‘Jumbo’ Loomed Large: Cannavo was a World War I Vet Who Helped Shape the SIC Beach Patrol

Antonio “Jumbo” Cannavo (left) with the 1923-24 Sea Isle City Beach Patrol.

Jumbo with his 1927 Beach Patrol.

Antonio “Jumbo” Cannavo was born in Italy in 1888 and emigrated to the United States after being honorably discharged from the Italian Navy. He eventually settled in Sea Isle City and found employment as a commercial fisherman, working with the Pradico-LaRosa Fish Pound Company. Physically powerful, he was a very strong swimmer and was often called upon to go overboard and untangle problematic nets, saving the day’s catch from being lost.

Cannavo was one of the first people from Sea Isle City to volunteer and be inducted into the military during World War I. Assigned as a private first class to the 310th Infantry Battalion of the 78th “Lightning” Infantry Division, he saw action in France during the summer and fall of 1918. His division was the “point of the wedge” of the final offensive that knocked out Germany. Cannavo served in three major campaigns during World War I: Meuse-Argonne, St. Mihiel, and Lorraine.

Upon returning home to Sea Isle City in June 1919, he received a warm welcome from the townspeople. As reported in the Cape May County Times, “Tony, who is affectionally known as ‘Jumbo,’” presented a Red Cross flag to Mrs. Theodore De Bow, “head of the local organization.” The flag had flown over a hospital in Germany and was obtained by Cannavo after the armistice that ended the war had been signed.

Settling back into civilian life, Cannavo resumed working as a commercial fisherman and with the City’s Public Works Department. He also volunteered with the Sea Isle City Fire Department. In 1925, he was appointed captain of the beach patrol. This was a very important appointment, as in the first half of the 20th century, Italian-Americans in Sea Isle City were often the targets of subtle – and at times, not too subtle – discrimination from the local powers. His appointment was an important milestone in recognizing the contributions of all Italian-Americans in Sea Isle City. Upon obtaining the appointment of beach patrol captain, Cannavo was the first Italian-American placed in a position of authority in Sea Isle City.

While serving as beach patrol captain, Cannavo’s extensive military experience enabled him to understand the importance of organizational structure. His commercial fishing experience gave him a unique (to that time) understanding of the ocean, especially what we now know as the effects of tides and rip currents. As captain, he changed the culture of the beach patrol from one that merely responded to rescues to a patrol that employed preventive lifeguarding techniques.

Sea Isle City historian and former beach patrol captain Tom McCann has authored two books about the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol, “Lifeguarding in Sea Isle City Since 1882,” and “Lifeguarding in Sea Isle City Since 1882, Volume II.” In those books, McCann explains that Cannavo was responsible for introducing preventative lifeguarding to Sea Isle City. Also, in addition to changing the patrol’s focus, Cannavo:

• Built new equipment, including box stands.

• Expanded the number of beaches protected to include a station at 85th Street.

• Had the lifeguards rake and police their beach area daily.

• Introduced boat layout.

• Had the entire beach patrol certified by the American Red Cross.

• Started informal swimming and rowing races.

Cannavo and the “ladies” at the 42nd Street beach.

Cannavo served the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol every summer from 1925 through 1937. Newspaper accounts from his tenure as captain indicated that he was not a “hands off” administrator, and that he was a true “water watcher.” He was always on duty.

Before guards were on station early in the 1926 season, while working for the Public Works Department repairing a pavilion on the boardwalk, Cannavo saw a child in distress in the surf against the 40th Street jetty. Dropping his tools, he rushed out into the surf and rescued the 5-year-old boy. Additional newspaper accounts of summer-season rescues throughout the 1920s and ’30s indicate that he was an active participant during emergencies, and was often was called upon to go into the water after bathers in distress.

Upon leaving the beach patrol after the summer of 1937, he returned to commercial fishing and the City Public Works Department. Proud of his heritage, he was a founding member of Sea Isle City’s Italian-American Club. Prouder still of his service to America, Cannavo was a charter member of the City’s American Legion Post.

Cannavo (center) poses with the Sea Isle City Fire Department.

A short time after the end of World War I, Cannavo was honored by the community along with other local veterans. His name is engraved on the granite memorial in Sea Isle City’s current Veterans Park, located on Landis Avenue between JFK Boulevard and West Jersey Avenue. Along with the Chamber of Commerce, the City’s Parent Teacher Association led fundraisers, including a coin drive to finance and construct the monument to all the town’s veterans. The pink granite monument proudly sits in the municipal park (now Veterans Park), where it was dedicated more than 96 years ago.However, seemingly to illustrate some of the hardships faced by Italian-Americans in Sea Isle City at that time, his name is misspelled as “Antonia” on the monument. This is also the case of at least one other Italian-American veteran who is honored on the memorial.

Until the tenure of the current chief of the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol, Renny Steele, Cannavo’s 13 seasons represented the longest time served by any SICBP chief administrator.

Cannavo died Oct. 29, 1950, and is buried at St. Elizabeth’s Cemetery in Goshen. Members of the Sea Isle City American Legion Post served as honor guards and members of the Sea Isle City Fire Department served as honorary pallbearers at his funeral. Widowed in 1939, he had no immediate survivors.

Unfortunately, the passage of decades has erased many of the memories of the contributions that Tony Cannavo made to Sea Isle City. He was a volunteer fireman, a founder of Sea Isle City’s Italian-American Club and a charter member of Sea Isle City’s American Legion Post. During the first half of the 20th century, he was what we would now call a community leader.

Happily, despite the passage of almost a century, efforts are currently underway to remember his contributions and hopefully include him in the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol Hall of Fame.