Grace Spitalero, 89, passed in peace on Friday, March 12, 2021. Our “Nana,” our “Gracie Red” was deeply loved, is greatly missed, and will forever be cherished.
Born October 5, 1931, Grace grew up in the heart of Little Italy in New York City, no doubt the source of her immense pride in her Italian heritage. It is also where she would meet, marry and start a family with the love of her life, the late Philip Spitalero. Grace and Philip eventually moved to Staten Island, NY, where they raised three daughters. Upon entering their golden years, Greenacres, FL is where they called home for the better part of 40 years and were blessed with a second family in their friends at Pine Ridge.
Grace had a zest for life and travel. Her love of people and gift of gab made her a lifetime of friends wherever she went. She absolutely loved being a hairdresser – the only thing she loved more was her home away from home in Lincroft, NJ, where she spent countless treasured moments with her youngest daughter and twin granddaughters.
Grace is now reunited with her late parents, Lazzaro and Adelina DiPietro, beloved husband Philip, and siblings Millie, Josephine, Angelo and Concetta. She is survived by daughters and sons-in-law, Phyllis and William Malek, Maureen and James DiBartolo, and Patricia and Patrick Varriale; grandchildren Abigail, Julia, Frank, Christina, Angela, Nicholas, Edward, Philip and Christopher; and a great-grandson, Owen.
A visitation will be held on Friday, March 19, 2021 from 4-8 p.m. at the John E. Day Funeral Home in Red Bank, NJ. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Red Bank on Saturday March 20, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. The service will be streamed on the church's website at http://sjredbank.org and the service will be able to be viewed by scrolling on the home page to the picture of the church and pressing the "Play" icon in the middle of the picture at the time of the service. Entombment will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Middletown, NJ.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Grace’s memory to St. Jude Children’s Research, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959.
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