 Geraldine Ferraro was born on August 26 , 1935 in Newburgh , New York , the daughter of <unk> L. Ferraro ( née <unk> ) , a first @-@ generation Italian American seamstress , and Dominick Ferraro , an Italian immigrant ( from <unk> , Campania ) and owner of two restaurants . She had three brothers born before her , but one died in infancy and another at age three . Ferraro attended the parochial school Mount Saint Mary 's in Newburgh when she was young . Her father died of a heart attack in May 1944 , when she was eight . Ferraro 's mother soon invested and lost the remainder of the family 's money , forcing the family to move to a low @-@ income area in the South Bronx while Ferraro 's mother worked in the garment industry to support them . 
