Josephine DeLuca

November 13, 1925 - August 24, 2020

Jo DeLuca passed away on August 24thsurrounded by her family at Good Shepherd Hospice due to complications arising from Alzheimer’s Disease. Jo was preceded in death by her beloved husband Anthony and is survived by her daughters Josephine Pirozzoli (husband, John) and Rosemary Connor (husband, Craig), and her grandchildren Heather Earl and Luke Pirozzoli.

Jo was born in 1925 to Guiseppe and Rosa Stallone. Imagine her amazement as Jo arrived as a five year old girl at Ellis Island from Grumo Appula (near Bari, Italy) with her parents, 6 sisters and her brother in September 1930. She met and married the love of her life Anthony (Tony) DeLuca and they built a beautiful life together in Brooklyn New York. In the 1970’s they decided to make Florida their home, soon to be followed by their children. Jo was a great bowler and could beat any opponent in penny-ante poker and Yahtzee. She raised her Standard Poodle Simone from a puppy and absolutely adored her grand dogs Loki, Shadow and Boomer.

Jo helped build helicopters at Sikorsky Aircraft, and then joined American Express where she retired as an accountant. Not one to sit still in her retirement, she went on to work at Jordan Marsh/Burdines where she continued to work until she was 83. When asked what she wanted to do for her 80th birthday, she said “Take me to Vegas!”

Jo loved a great meal (with wine and dessert), had a quick wit, a warm smile, gave loving hugs, had a profound love for her family, and as a lifelong Catholic was unquestionable in her devotion to God. Jo could think of no better gift than being surrounded by her loving family.

In 2014, an unplanned and unannounced solo trip to Islamorada resulted in a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. For six years she fought the disease, but in the end it won. She is at peace now with her parents, Tony, her six siblings, and Simone.

In lieu of flowers the family is requesting donations in her name to the Alzheimer’s Association to help the more than 50 million people worldwide living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias to support advancing global research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support (http://act.alz.org).