OBITS: Staten Island Advance 8 Oct 2005; Staten Island, Richmond co., New York text-formatted by W. David Samuelsen for The USGenWeb Archives Project *********************************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.org/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.org/ny/nyfiles.htm *********************************************************************** Source: Staten Island Advance Death Notices http://www.statenislandadvance.com/ DiMolfetta, Rose Rose DiMolfetta on October 6, 2005. Beloved wife of the late Jerry. Devoted mother of Joseph. Loving sister of Jack, Ralph, Nancy, Pepe, Mauro, and Benny Capurso. Cherished aunt and great-aunt of several nieces and nephews. Funeral from Colonial Funeral Home, 2819 Hylan Blvd., corner of Tysens Lane. Mass Tuesday 10:15 A.M. St. Charles R.C. Church. Interment Moravian Cemetery. Visiting hours Sunday 7-9 P.M., Monday 2-4 and 7-9 P.M. www.SiLive.com/obits Published in the Staten Island Advance from 10/8/2005 - 10/10/2005. Johnstone, John G. John G. Johnstone of New Springville on October 6, 2005. Beloved husband of Patricia. Loving father of Mark and Brian. Dear brother of Robert. Cherished grandfather of Elyse, Danielle, Kaitlyn and Christina. Funeral from MATTHEW FUNERAL HOME INC., 2508 VICTORY BLVD. AT WILLOWBROOK RD., on Tuesday 10 A.M. Mass of Christian Burial Our Lady of Pity Church 10:30 A.M. Interment Resurrection Cemetery. Friends may call Sunday and Monday 2-4 and 7-9 P.M. www.SiLive.com/obits Published in the Staten Island Advance from 10/8/2005 - 10/9/2005. Merolo, Vincent A. Vincent A. Merolo "Buddy" of Hollywood, Fla., on October 5, 2005. Beloved husband of Patricia B. (nee Enick). Dear father of Peter J. and Elyzabeth Merolo. Fond brother of John Merolo, sister-in-law of Annette Cendrowski. Loving future father in law of Steve DeMarco. Also survived by two dear nephews and one niece. Funeral from Meislohn-Silvie Funeral Home, 1289 Forest Ave, P.R., on Tuesday at 9 A.M. Mass of Christian Burial Our Lady of Pity R.C. Church 9:30 A.M. Entombment Ocean View Cemetery. Friends will be received Monday 2-4, and 7-9 P.M. Meislohn-Silvie Funeral Home Family Owned www.SiLive.com/obits Published in the Staten Island Advance from 10/7/2005 - 10/10/2005. Mortensen, MaryAnn MaryAnn Mortensen of Port Richey Florida, formerly of Mariners Harbor on October 4, 2005. Beloved wife of William. Loving mother of William and Michael Mortensen and Jeannette Salvo. Cherished daughter of Vincent Aliseo and the late Anna. Dear sister of Vincent, Joseph, Anthony, John, Louis, Rosemarie and Joann Aliseo. Also survived by seven grandchildren. Funeral from MATTHEW FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATION SERVICES INC., 2508 VICTORY BLVD. AT WILLOWBROOK RD., on Monday 9 A.M. Mass of Christian Burial, Our Lady of Pity R.C. Church 9:30 A.M. Committal Rosehill Crematory. Friends may call Saturday and Sunday 2-4 and 7-9 P.M. www.SiLive.com/obits Published in the Staten Island Advance from 10/7/2005 - 10/9/2005. Rogers, Richard E. Richard E. Rogers of Great Kills on October 6, 2005. Beloved husband of Elizabeth. Loving father of Deborah and Karen Rogers. Dear brother of Steven Rogers, Gay and Patricia. Devoted grandfather of Demi Rogers. Funeral Service at Casey McCallum-Rice South Shore Funeral Home, 30 Nelson Ave, Great Kills, Tuesday 11 A.M. Interment Cemetery of the Resurrection. Friends will be received Monday 2-4, 7-9 P.M. Casey McCallum-Rice Funeral Home www.SiLive.com/obits Published in the Staten Island Advance from 10/8/2005 - 10/9/2005. Shanley, Brian K. Brian K. Shanley of Westerleigh October 6, 2005. Beloved husband of Maragaret (nee Duffy). Dear son-in-law of Lois Duffy. Funeral service from Harmon Home for Funerals, 571 Forest Ave, West Brighton, Tuesday 10:30 A.M. Interment St. Peter's Cemetery. Friends will be received, Monday 2-4 and 7-9 P.M. K. Terrance McGinley, Director, Harmon Home for Funerals Locally Family Owned and Operated Staten Island's only member of the International Order of the www.SiLive.com/obits Published in the Staten Island Advance from 10/7/2005 - 10/10/2005. VINCENT MEROLO, 70 Avid hunter, fisherman Saturday, October 08, 2005 Native Staten Islander Vincent A. (Buddy) Merolo, 70, a former heavy equipment operator, died Wednesday in Memorial Regional Hospital, Hollywood, Fla., after a long battle with lymphoma. Born in Bulls Head, he graduated from Port Richmond High School in 1953. In 1999, Mr. Merolo and his wife, the former Patricia 1994 Enick, moved permanently to their summer home in Hollywood. Mr. Merolo worked as a heavy equipment operator for Hercules Contracting and Hauling Co., a family business, and Staaten Material, both on Staten Island, for several years. In 1965, he began working as a tractor operator for the Department of Sanitation at Fresh Kills -- a position he held for 26 years until retiring in 1991. He was a member of Local 15, International Union of Operating Engineers. Mr. Merolo served in the U.S. Navy's Seabee Reserves from 1953 to 1965. He was a member of the Staten Island Men's Club, the Staten Island Sportsmen's Club, the Zimmer Fish and Game Protective Association, the National Rifle Association and the HAVOL Club, which was his favorite group. He was a former president of the Andoric Association Inc., his co-op association in Hollywood. In his leisure time, Mr. Merolo enjoyed playing cards, hunting, fishing, playing bingo, traveling and "doting on" his two children, said his wife. "He enjoyed being a handyman to all his friends and would come up with a washer or bolt that happened to be in his pocket," Mrs. Merolo said. "He loved the guys at HAVOL and missed them when he moved to Florida. While living on Staten Island, Mr. Merolo was a parishioner of Our Lady of Pity R.C. Church, Bull's Head. In addition to his wife of 47 years, Patricia, surviving are his son, Peter J.; his daughter, Elyzabeth Merolo, and a brother, John. The funeral will be Tuesday from the Meislohn-Silvie Funeral Home, Port Richmond, with a mass at 9:30 a.m. in Our Lady of Pity Church. Entombment will follow in the family mausoleum at Ocean View Cemetery, Oakwood. IRENE ROMANDO, 98 Owned restaurant and luncheonette with husband Saturday, October 08, 2005 Former Staten Islander Irene S. Romando, the retired co-owner of two former New Brighton eateries, died yesterday in Country Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Toms River, N.J., where she had resided for three years. She was 98. Born and raised in New Brighton, the former Irene S. Pagliarulo settled in Toms River in 1976. Her late husband, Peter Romando, opened Pete's Restaurant in New Brighton in 1923. After their marriage in 1927, she joined the family business as a co-owner. In the late 1940s, the pair opened Frank's Luncheonette in New Brighton, which they owned for a short time. In 1971, the couple retired from the restaurant business, closing Pete's Restaurant. Mrs. Romando enjoyed cooking and knitting afghans. A parishioner of St. Joseph's R.C. Church in Toms River, she was a member of its Altar Rosary Society. Mrs. Romando's husband, Peter, died in 1975. Surviving are her son, Daniel P.; three sisters, Mafalda Barraco, Jean Parisi and Margaret Cognetta; five grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. Mrs. Romando's son, Daniel A., died in 1931. The funeral will be Tuesday from the Carmona-Bolen Home for Funerals, Whiting, N.J., with a mass at 10 a.m. in St. Paul's R.C. Church, New Brighton. Burial will follow in St. Peter's Cemetery, West Brighton. GRACE BUTTERS, 88 Girl Scout leader won blue ribbons for her quilts Saturday, October 08, 2005 Grace (Betty) B. Butters, 88, a lifelong Staten Islander and retired comptroller and pioneer in the computer industry, died Thursday at her New Dorp home, after a battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Born Grace B. Christie in New Dorp Beach, she moved 2000 with her family to a farm on Harbor Road in Mariners Harbor at the age of 4. She settled in New Dorp in 1959. Mrs. Butters graduated from Port Richmond High School, where she was captain of the girls' basketball team. With only a high school diploma, she worked her way up to comptroller of the former Grief Bros/Virginia Barrel Co. in Mariners Harbor, at a time when it was unheard of for a woman to hold such a high position. A pioneer in the computer industry, Mrs. Butters synchronized the company's animated process, programming financial procedures on a mass frame. She did 36 factories' payroll and, according to her daughter, Jane Butters, her loud computer filled a large room [and] her disk was as large as a tire. During World War II, Mrs. Butters worked in the office of the former Halloran Hospital, Willowbrook. During the Depression, she was a payroll clerk at General Foods in Manhattan. A Girl Scout troop leader for 20 years, Mrs. Butters took her senior Scouts to round-ups and several times, to Washington, D.C. For her efforts, she received a leadership award from the Girl Scouts of America. An avid quilter, she was a member and former president of the Staten Island Quilters Guild in New Dorp. Mrs. Butters also enjoyed knitting, crocheting, tailoring, dollmaking, baking and working with stained glass. She won many blue ribbons for quilting, tailoring and doll-making at the Richmond County Fair during the 1980s, including Best in Show for a jacket she made, her family said. According to her daughter, Mrs. Butters and her husband, the late William (Bill) Robert Butters, met as children when they lived across the street from each other. Mr. Butters also coached his future bride-to-be in basketball. During their 60-year marriage, the duo traveled the world three times, touring the U.S., Canada, South America and South Africa. She lost three days of her life crossing the international date line, Ms. Butters said. A charitable woman at heart, Mrs. Butters also helped to support two young monks in India with their educational costs. Her husband, William, died in 2001. In addition to her daughter, Jane, Mrs. Butters is survived by her sister, Eleanor Christie; six granddaughters, and three great-grandchildren. Her son, William, died in January. The funeral service will be Tuesday at 11 a.m. in the Colonial Funeral Home, New Dorp. Geshe Denchuk, a Tibetan monk, will lead a prayer at the service. Burial of ashes will be in Moravian Cemetery, also New Dorp. ESTER ROTH, 98 Former Islander liked reading, knitting and cooking Saturday, October 08, 2005 Former Staten Islander Esther Roth, 98, a homemaker, died Sunday at her Edison, N.J., home. Born in Manhattan, the former Esther Lehrhaupt moved to West Brighton in the 1930s and lived there for 60 years. She relocated to Edison nine years ago. Mrs. Roth spent her leisure time reading and knitting. She also loved to cook. While living on Staten Island, she was a member of Congregation B'Nai Jeshurun, West Brighton. In New Jersey, she belonged to Congregation Neve Shalom in Metuchen, where she was also active in the Sisterhood. "She was a remarkable woman. She lived life at her own terms," said her daughter, Sandra Fields. Mrs. Roth's husband of 60 years, Moe, who had owned the former Bay Pharmacy in Tomkinsville, died in 1995. In addition to her daughter, Sandra, surviving are her daughter, Marlene Superior; two granddaughters, and two great-granddaughters. A graveside service was held Monday in Baron Hirsch Cemetery, Graniteville. The arrangments were handled by the Goldstein Funeral Chapel, Edison. CHRISTOPER GILMORE, 38 West Brighton native liked programming computers Saturday, October 08, 2005 Christopher Gilmore, 38, of Poplar Creek, Miss., a native Staten Islander who liked to use computers, died Wednesday in Mississippi Baptist Medical Center in Jackson, Miss. Born in West Brighton, Mr. Gilmore moved to Poplar Creek in 1986 to finish high school. He graduated from French Camp Academy in Choctaw County, Miss., in 1987. Mr. Gilmore then returned to West Brighton and attended a year of college. He permanently moved to Poplar Creek in 2002. He was a member of the Port Richmond Moose Lodge. In his leisure time, Mr. Gilmore enjoyed using and programming computers and reading. Surviving are his wife of three years, the former Martha Rosales; a sister, Minna Leonard, and four brothers, James, Louis, Kevin and Eduard. The funeral was scheduled for today at 3 p.m. in the Oliver Funeral Home, Winona, Miss. Burial will follow in Bethsaida Cemetery, Montgomery County, Miss.