Obituary of Antonietta Alessandra
Born May 4th 1938, the fifth of ten siblings, to Francesco and Rosa Suppa (née Pascarella) in Maddaloni, Italy. Antonietta always loved sharing her fond memories of her early years growing up in Italy, where she left grade school at a young age to help care for her large family, a devotion she held for her entire life.
At 16 years old, Antonietta immigrated to the US with her mother and six of her siblings to join her father and sisters already in America. While living on Stone Street in Newark, NJ, she met her husband, Gaetano (Tom) Alessandra. On December 3rd, 1960, they were married in a ceremony at Saint Lucy’s church in Newark.
While supporting Tom in making a name for himself in the woodworking business, as well as building a home, Antonietta and Tom were blessed with two Sons, Tony and Frank. When her sons were old enough, Antonietta found work at the local high school as a cafeteria worker, where she undoubtedly touched countless lives through not only serving food, but compassion. Like she did for her own children & grandchildren, Antonietta took the time to learn the food preferences of each and every child at that school. In the true nature of an Italian Grandmother, she never allowed a child to go hungry, and, evidenced by the extra cafeteria food that came home, never let food go to waste.
After moving to Boonton, NJ then Whippany, NJ, the family settled down on Donna Lee Court in Denville, NJ. The Donna Lee house and yard were both compassionately cared for by Antonietta and Tom, serving as the setting of many parties, holidays, and memorable summer nights. Here is where Antonietta and Tom would welcome their four grandchildren, “Lil’ Tommy”, Amanda, Alyssa and Jennifer along with various pets. All were well fed and never with pet food.
After selling the business and retiring from the high school, Antonietta and Tom relocated to the Jersey Shore, settling in Little Egg Harbor. It was not long before Antonietta found work at the local high school cafeteria in South Jersey, where she fed another generation of kids over the next two decades. Antonietta and Tom welcomed everyone to this home and there was never a shortage of food. This included endless figs and pears throughout the summer and one strange Halloween when meatballs were the delight of every trick or treater coming to their door.
Evident was Antonietta’s love and care for everyone, as she would literally give the food off her plate to a hungry stranger. She was also amazing with numbers and the speed and accuracy at which she could do math as a cashier was astonishing. She enjoyed watching game shows, playing the games she loved and teaching others how to play. She taught all her children & grandchildren to cook and instilled in them the compassionate need to feed people’s stomachs and souls. She was quick witted, strong willed and the best person to talk to when you had a problem, or if you needed something fixed.
She was and will forever be the quintessential Italian grandmother.
Antonietta is preceded by her parents Francesco and Rosa Suppa, her daughter-in-law Tina Alessandra (née Carrigan), her siblings, Mickey, Nina (Maria), Biagio, and Louis. She lives on in the heart of her loving husband of over 64 years, Gaetano Alessandra; her caring sons, Antonio (Tony) Alessandra and partner Myra Rosen, and Francesco (Frank) Alessandra and his wife Kristan; her cherished grandchildren, Thomas (Lil’ Tommy) Alessandra and his wife Kristie, Amanda Alessandra and her husband Sean Monteith, Alyssa Durkin (née Alessandra) and her husband Brian, and Jennifer Alessandra; her great-granddaughter Shayla Alessandra; her sisters Connie, Cathy and Josephine and brothers Alphonso and Dominick; her bonus grandchildren Hannah and Jacob Stapleton, Dani Paulson and Mitchell Rosen, as well as her bonus son Pasquale Lubrano.
Public Visitation will be held on Tuesday, May 20th from 10:30 – 12:30 pm at Norman Dean Home for Services, 16 Righter Avenue, Denville. Funeral Service will begin promptly at 12:30 pm at the Funeral Home. Entombment will immediately follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery & Mausoleum, 225 Ridgedale Avenue, East Hanover. Please light a candle, leave a condolence and share your favorite memory of Antonietta here to continue to celebrate her life and let her light shine.
