In this blog you will read about Maureen Brown,
a young woman whose family was from the Riverland in South Australia, and Mario Griguol, a young man from Meduna di Livenza
in the Veneto region, and their life together.
The couple met in Adelaide in 1955 and married in 1959.
The photo above features Mario and Maureen with their family,
Back: Debra and Rosalee, Front: Steven and Paula, c 1970.
When Maureen Brown saw Mario Griguol for the first time in 1955, it really was ‘love at first sight!’ She was 16 years old, out window shopping in Rundle Street with a friend. She even remembers that it was a Sunday! Maureen saw two young men in a black Holden including a very handsome one, ‘Mario’, wearing a leather jacket. It did not take long for Mario and Maureen to become romantically involved. And like all young couples, they went on many dates together.
Maureen’s early life
Maureen was born on 9th March 1939 at Berri hospital where her family had a fruit block in Lyrup. She was the youngest of seven children and, when she was 2 years old, the family moved to Alberton in Adelaide. She left school at 14 years and began working in a local workshop making men’s clothing.
She enjoyed her work and stayed in that job until soon after she married. Maureen had a varied social life with friends as a young woman – going to see movies and listening to rock and roll.
Mario and the Griguol family
Mario – born on 21 May 1935, in Meduna di Livenza in the Province of Treviso, was one of six children. His parents, Giuseppe and Rosa, arrived in Australia in March 1949 with their children and went first to New Residence near Loxton where Giuseppe had a job as the main gardener for a local family.
The family was ready to move to Adelaide when, 10 months after migrating to Australia, Rosa died at 45 years of age never getting to see their new home. After Mario moved to Adelaide, he lived in the Tonellato vagon (railway carriage) on Frogmore Road, Kidman Park for some time, with his future brother-in-law, Rinaldo (Lalo) Zamberlan.
At 15, Mario worked at various jobs. He was keen to learn English and in 1950, attended night school. The photo below published in ‘The News’, features Mario participating in a class with two other young Italian men.
Maureen recalls that Mario delivered for Miller Andersons Department Store and did concreting on weekends with his family. Early in their marriage, Mario studied drafting at night school as he knew that work and education were important to get ahead.
Mario’s early employment was with a concrete business and in the period that he and Maureen were courting, he worked in country areas. Maureen recalled that when he was in places like Port Lincoln for some weeks, they exchanged letters and phone calls to each other. Maureen remembered feeling part of the Griguol family early on, “It was lovely that the Griguols welcomed me so warmly into their family”.
The path to marriage
Mario and Maureen enjoyed each other’s company. They often went to the movies or the drive-in. Her parents liked Mario immediately and were pleased with Maureen’s choice of a man with good character. They went out together for four years before they married in 1959. Maureen was about to turn 20 and Mario was 24 years old.
Maureen became a Catholic before the wedding. Her friend, Lorraine, was bridesmaid and Mario’s best man was Bruno Piovesan, from a Veneto market gardener family on Frogmore Road. After the wedding at the Hindmarsh Catholic Church, the reception was held in the Tonellato’s packing shed.
28 February 1959.
Houses and family
The young couple started their married life on Frogmore Road, Kidman Park in the house of Mario’s sister and brother-in-law (Lea and Orlando (Nano) Tonellato). Maureen and Mario’s first child, Rosalee was born in 1959, followed by Debra, in 1961, Paula, in 1964 and Steven in 1966.
The family moved several times in the initial years. Mario and one of his sisters, Silvana and his brother, Toni and families built adjoining houses at Waterloo Corner. The three families shared a lot of time together. Mario had his own building company, MG Constructions, for many years.
The next move was to One Tree Hill where Mario built a house on 15 acres. Mario and Maureen had horses, beef cattle, chickens and a dog on the property.
Family life
Mario loved the outdoors. He took the family on many trips to the Riverland where he taught the children to water ski from a boat that he had built.
The family also went to the Flinders Ranges during the September school holidays. The children used to call their Dad, ‘Harry Butler’ because of his love of the country and bush. Mario encouraged his brothers and sisters with their families to join them on their many trips to Loxton or the Flinders.
Maureen and Mario were actively involved in the Catholic parish in Virginia. Dedicated parishioners, they helped in all aspects of the church including the construction of the presbytery.
Extended Griguol family
Maureen wholeheartedly embraced her new Italian culture, and with Mario, raised their children in Veneto customs and traditions. The Griguol families had a tradition of going on regular picnics. On one occasion the cousins enjoyed time together in the portable swimming pool that Maureen and Mario made from canvas.
The extended Griguol family celebrated special occasions together. For example, there were gatherings at Easter and Christmas at Botanic and Rymill Parks where the men played bocce and the women talked while the children played.
In 1996, Rose Noble, daughter of Antonio (Toni) and Maria Griguol and author of the family history book, Polenta in Australia,[1] organised a family reunion at Melrose. It was 47 years since the family had arrived in Adelaide.
Veneto Club
Mario was a Foundation member of the Veneto Club and had contributed his labour to the construction of the Club at Beverley. Before he was voted as President, he was a member of the fourth Committee in 1975.
Elected President for five terms between 1976 and 2002, Mario enjoyed the opportunity to lead the Club and involve families in events.
Maureen said that the “Veneto Club was his community, and he was very passionate about what it meant to Veneto migrants in Adelaide.”
Daughters, Debra and Paula, agreed that Mario was a natural-born leader who would volunteer himself in activities that were important to him, his children, the Veneto Club and the Catholic parish.
Maureen became involved in the Veneto Club through playing netball, waiting on tables and assisting in the kitchen. She recalled that she “had a ball” at the Club and she is thankful for the close friendships made over the years. When Mario was President, she went to all the functions and recalls receiving large quantities of decorative flowers as the President’s wife.
Maureen, and Mario are on the immediate right of the speaker.
Connections to Italy
Through his sisters, Mario maintained contact with relatives in Meduna di Livenza. He and Maureen made their first visit there in the mid 1980s and met up with Mario’s brother Toni and sister-in-law, Maria. Maureen remembered that it was a very emotional time for Mario as it was the first time he had been back since the family migrated in 1949. She said, “the relatives were overjoyed to see us and welcomed us with gracious hospitality”.
Mario and Maureen sitting together at the table.
Mario and Maureen’s three daughters have visited Meduna di Livenza over the years and saw the house in which he grew up in, a very moving time for each of them.
Maureen learned to cook Italian food, eager to please her husband, learning from his sisters along the way. The family also kept Easter and Christmas traditions. Two of her daughters met their future husbands at the Veneto Club adding a stronger connection to their Veneto heritage with its values and culture.
Maureen’s reflections
Maureen reflected on her life with Mario and spoke about her memories, “They will never leave me.” She recalls that at the heart of his life were three important things – family, the Church and the Veneto Club. Both Mario and Maureen involved themselves deeply in each of those aspects. Mario died in 2005.
Today Maureen enjoys spending time with her children – “they are my life now.” She has 13 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. She regularly attends the luncheons at the Veneto Club and loves the connections which she made so many years ago.
Maureen Griguol, Debra Griguol Brombal, Paula Griguol Berno,
Madeleine Regan
26 October 2025
All photos supplied by the family.
[1] Rose Noble, Polenta in Australia: The Story of Giuseppe and Rosa Griguol and their Family, 1996.