Victor James Carcelli was born February 8, 1902, in a house built by his grandfather Bartolemeo Carcelli (died there at age 52 of complications following a ruptured appendix) on Third Street.  Victor was the only son of John and Theresa (Bonini) Carcelli who also had four daughters: Adeline (Mrs. Cosmo Bonari), Irene (Mrs. Jerry Sichi), Rose (Mrs. Floyd Sichi), and Romilda (Mrs. William Scholl).

    As a child Victor attended McKinley Elementary School (1-4th grades), Jefferson Elementary School (5-6 grades) and the Junior High School (7th grade). At age 12 he had morning and evening newspaper routes. To carry out his share of the family income he worked as delivery and clean up at Jake and Sam Meyers' men's clothing store and Schollp's Department Store. At age 15 he quit school to work at Pittsburgh Steel Company in the nail mill. Soon he moved to Page Steel Foundry at American Steel and Wire where cable was made that was used in building the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

    After working a short time in the hot mill, he got a job as apprentice machinist, ran an overhead crane for one year, then went into the machine shop at 33 cents an hour. When he married Yola Barni of Belle Vernon in 1923, he was earning 65 cents an hour. He became one of five expert machinists at Pittsburgh Steel Company who could do any job. Close fellow workers and good friends were: George Breneman, Dan Doty, Mike Kichenko, George Kisinko, Jack McShane, and Aldo Picchairini.

    Victor and Jim Watkins, the machine shop foreman at Pittsburgh Steel, went into business in 1938 founding Monessen Machine and Welding Company. During that time Victor attended Carnegie Technical School to learn welding. Two years later in 1940 Victor and his wife purchased and operated the Grand Hotel at 540 Donner Avenue. In 1944 they sold the business to William Hanel and moved to California. Eventually the Grand Hotel was closed, the building abandoned and razed in 1988. It was replaced by a downtown park.

    Victor and Yola had four children: Aladene, a graduate of the Monessen High School class of 1943; John Victor, born 1929 and died 1939; JoAnn, born and died 12/28/30; and Deanna, born 1938.

    Victor died in Oceanside, California in 1991. Yola died in Eugene, Oregon in 1998. Both are interred in the family plot at Grandview Cemetery in Monessen.