Matthew L. Bosco

Matthew Louis Bosco was born on August 21, 1939 to Catherine Monahan and Matthew Bosco in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in an Irish-Italian family along with his younger siblings Marguerite, Robert, Diane, Kathy, and Patty Jo.

Bunny, or Bunny-Boy as he was affectionately called by his mom, did not finish Franklin K. Lane High School. Instead, with his mother’s permission, he joined the United States Army at age 17. He was stationed at Biloxi, MS until his Honorable Discharge on October 24, 1957.

After life in the Army, he moved back to New York, and managed night clubs and eventually owned his own bar, Big Daddy’s. In the early 1960s, he met and married his first wife, Patricia Barbiari, with whom he had his first two daughters, Joy, born on January 11, 1961 and Denise, born on September 12, 1962.

Sadly, this marriage did not last and in 1963, Bunny moved to work for one of his uncles in Asia. He worked out of Japan for several years as a music entertainment coordinator and road/tour manager for American music entertainers who toured with the USO. A couple of the entertainers were the legendary Ray Charles and Johnny Cash. Bunny was the road manager who made sure Johnny Cash and his wife, June, traveled comfortably during their 1971 tour in Vietnam. While on a trip to Jakarta, Indonesia, Bunny met Ratna Ermanoe, who would eventually be his second wife. On June 26, 1973, Ratna gave birth to his third and her first daughter, Fanci Tita. They lived in Jakarta until 1976, when a new business opportunity allowed Bunny and his family to move to Singapore, and on November 30, 1978 his youngest daughter, Priscilla, was born.

In Singapore, Bunny started his own management company called Dragon Showcase, where he also managed the budding career of Anita Sarawak, a local Singaporean singer. Over the next decade, Bunny helped grow Anita’s status from a local entertainer to superstar, famous throughout Southeast Asia, touring Europe, Australia, and other parts of Asia. Bunny also managed the Singaporean band called Silk with Stephen Francis and coordinated tours throughout Asia for American music entertainers. Some of the entertainers were The Bee Gees, Tom Jones, The Commodores, Sheena Easton, Kool & the Gang, KC and the Sunshine Band, Chubby Checker, The Platters, and Glenn Campbell, just to name a few.

In late 1986, Bunny tried to launch Anita’s career in the US by moving her and his family to Las Vegas, NV. Unfortunately, Anita’s career did not take off as planned. In December of 1988, Bunny and his family moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to be closer to his mother, Catherine, and his sister Marguerite. Shortly after moving to Florida, Matthew started working for Walmart, where he worked until 2019.

Matthew/Bunny is survived by his children, Joy Piccolo, Denise LiVecchi, Fanci Duvall, and Priscilla Bosco, and his sisters, Diane Bancalari and Kathy Walker. He also leaves behind eight grandchildren, Jessica, Brianna, Lisa, Joseph, Jenna, Shane, Sara, and Jade, and one great-grandson, Oliver. He will be dearly missed and remembered for his love of books, classic cars, and especially his love of music.

. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Matthew/Bunny ’s life.

A visitation for Matthew will be held Thursday, January 13, 2022 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Kraeer Funeral Home and Cremation Center, 1655 University Drive, Coral Springs, FL 33071.

The family would like to thank Trustbridge Hospice for their care of Matthew Bosco’s last days.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.kraeercoralsprings.com for the Bosco family.