Frank Rusconi was a quarry

Quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...

 owner and monumental

Headstone

A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. In most cases they have the deceased's name, date of birth, and date of death inscribed on them, along with a personal message, or prayer.- Use :...

 mason of Gundagai, New South Wales

Gundagai, New South Wales

Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

He was born at Araluen near Braidwood, New South Wales

Braidwood, New South Wales

Braidwood is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, in Palerang Shire. It is located on the busy Kings Highway linking Canberra to Batemans Bay on the coast. It is about 200 kilometres south west of Sydney and about 60 kilometres inland from the coast...

, the son of a Swiss

Demographics of Switzerland

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Switzerland, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....

 goldminer and monumental mason. After his mother's death, the family returned to Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 while Frank was a child. At age 15, he was apprenticed in first Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and then Switzerland in the marble

Marble

Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...

 trade.

Rusconi returned to New South Wales in 1901. he worked with his brother and father near Orange, New South Wales

Orange, New South Wales

Orange is a city in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the state capital, Sydney, at an altitude of . Orange has an estimated population of 39,329 and the city is a major provincial centre....

 in a marble quarry they had discovered and developed.

He settled at Gundagai in 1905. He died nearly 60 years later in nearby Cootamundra

Cootamundra, New South Wales

Cootamundra is a town and Local Government Area in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. At the 2006 census, Cootamundra had a population of 5,566. It is located on the Olympic Highway at the point where it crosses the Muttama Creek, between Junee and...

 having been an active member of the Gundagai community since settling there.

Notable works are:

• the Dog on the Tuckerbox
  Dog on the Tuckerbox
  The Dog on the Tuckerbox is an Australian historical monument and tourist attraction, located at Snake Gully, five miles from Gundagai, New South Wales...
  
   - Rusconi made the base of the Dog on the Tuckerbox monument and the rest of the object was cast at 'Oliver's Foundry', Sydney.
• the Marble Masterpiece, a miniature building constructed of 20,948 individual pieces of marble. Work commenced in 1910 and was completed 28 years later. The work is on display in the Gundagai tourist office.
• tombstones are at Gundagai, Orange, Cudal
  Cudal, New South Wales
  Cudal is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. Cudal is in the Cabonne Shire Council Local Government area, west of the state capital, Sydney. At the 2006 census, Cudal had a population of 389...
  
   and Galong
  Galong, New South Wales
  Galong is a small town in New South Wales, Australia located in Harden Shire. At the 2006 census, Galong had a population of 122 people.The town is well known for its cemetery, which has among other monuments, some angels carved by Frank Rusconi, the monumental mason from Gundagai.St Clement's...
  
   cemeteries; the largest and most dramatic is a pair of white marble monuments to the Ryan family at Galong,
• two war memorials at Gundagai
• the marble altar in Tumut
  Tumut, New South Wales
  Tumut is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut is at the foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is referred to as the gateway to the Snowy Mountains Scheme...
  
   Catholic
  Roman Catholic Church in Australia
  The Catholic Church in Australia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual and administrative leadership of the Pope.Australia is a majority Christian but pluralistic society with no established religion. There are approximately 5.1 million Australian Catholics . Catholicism...
  
  church

External links

• Panoramic close-up views of the Marble masterpiece