Jennie (Patti) Firmano was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 30, 1910. She lived there with her parents, who were immigrants from Sicily, and six siblings: four sisters and three brothers. She attended public highs schools in Milwaukee, and was graduated from Girl's Trade Tech. Following her graduation, she went to work as a hair stylist and beautician. Shortly thereafter, her father helped her to start her own Beauty shop in a building that he owned, and she became an employer rather than an employee. She was running her shop during the war and felt that her business was not affected adversely by the conflict with the exception of the fact that it was difficult for her to find women to help by doing the unskilled labor in the shop. The women who would have taken these jobs were able to get much better employment in wartime industry. For a time during the war, she employed her sister to wash hair and clean. She was not involved in any war support organizations. In 1945, Mrs. Firmano was married. Mrs. Firmano never had any children and continues to live in Milwaukee with her husband, a Sicilian immigrant.
