Hi Lauren -
Fertitta and Saia are fairly common names in the town of Cefalu, and perhaps other parts of the Palermo region.
My great-grandmother was born in Cefalu and surname was "Saia," pronounced as you described in your email. I've looked at the civil records for Cefalu, and I visited the Cefalu cemetery in 2006. For both of these sources, the surname is written as both "Saia" and "Saja."
I looked through my records, and I don't see a connection between your family and mine. That's not surprising since as of the late 1700's there were various Saia family lines in Cefalu that were unrelated, as far as I could tell.
The Church of Latter Day Saints is currently transcribing vital records from around the world and placing the information on their website. I'm not sure if they've gotten around to Cefalu yet. Nonetheless, you can actually view a portion of the Cefalu vital records online (1862-1910). Going through the records is tedious and time consuming, but at least you can use the years of birth for your relatives as a starting point.
Link:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-27325-14302-48...If you have any questions, feel free to email me at
la_sin_ventura@yahoo.com.
Christine Comella