Rosemarie Armentano

Rosemarie Armentano, loving mother of Marianne and Anthony (Andrea), passed away just one month before her 91st birthday (she would smack me upside the head for revealing her age). For anyone who isn't familiar with my rhetoric, I am Dana, Rosemarie's only granddaughter. She has two grandsons, Chris and Anthony.

Mom tells me that Nonni worked out regularly with "Exercise with Ed" on TV and did yoga before yoga was cool. She was always impeccably dressed; some of her outfits her very own creations. Mom tells me her favorite creation was her leopard topper coat. Whenever she wore it mom and uncle Tony would pretend they were smacking it as if to kill the wild animal that was attacking their mom. She was an amazing cook and most happy when she was cooking for a crowd. She owned every kitchen gadget known to man, which is probably where my mom inherited the vice.

Our (Anthony, Chris and Myself) childhood memories of our grandmother are full of block parties, getting apples in our stockings for Christmas, coloring Easter eggs, fighting over the butt of her delicious lamb cake and very quickly straightening our rooms so we would be handed $2 upon Nonni and Papa's arrival.

Nonni was a simple woman. She loved life's little treasures: coffee cake, Bailey's Irish Cream, Almond Joy bars, scratch off lottery tickets, slot machines, Betty Boop, Judge Judy, Padre Pio and her perfectly petite family.

If you knew Nonni well, you knew she was a spark plug of sorts. She was a favorite at Thanksgiving. Our Thanksgivings are far from traditional and outside of Chris, Nonni Ma and Myself, the guest list is always a cornucopia of sorts. Each year holds a memorable and comedic story, typically starring Nonni. The first or second year we had our "orphan" Thanksgiving, Nonni was slicing and divvying up her famous, second to none, pumpkin pie. She handed the first piece over and loudly stated "Hand this to Renee!" Well, we don't know a Renee... And I don't know that she knows a Renee but she was pointing to a frequent guest and good friend of mine that Nonni knew well. From that moment on, Vanessa became Renee and we annoyingly tell the story every thanksgiving.

Last thanksgiving we had a large group for our annual post dinner LRC tournament. Nonni always said that she loved to be surrounded by bustling young people even if she couldn't hear or keep up with the conversation. Well last years' final LRC game went to a triple pot and Nonni, simply going through the motions of the game, unknowingly became victorious, winning a pot over $100.

I see so much of myself in her... From her boxes of saved handmade cards from her kids and grand kids and her meticulously categorized and dated collections of photographs and ticket stubs to her lack of a filter, independence and love of food and family. She had a fabulous life and I'm thrilled to have been a part of it. Her short term memory was lacking, but she could verbally illustrate a decades old event and you would feel like you, too were a part of it.... Either that or she was a very creative and compulsive liar.

Nonni is most assuredly playing slots, eating coffee cake and sipping Bailys in the heavenly casino upstairs. We will miss her inappropriate comments to wait staff, her incredible Christmas Eve spread and her stubborn, yet unbreakable strong will more than she would have ever imagined. She always said she would dance at our weddings and live to be 105. Well I guess the grandkids took to long for her, but I'm sure she'll be dancing with papa upstairs for all three of our weddings... God willing. :-)

--
Dana R. Arvanites


Friends and family will gather on Sunday for visitation from 3-9 pm at Sax-Tiedemann Funeral Home, and funeral services will be held on Monday at 11 am at the fuenral home. Interment St. Joseph Cemetery. For more information call 847-678-1950.