Rosina Colacurto Mirabella

Rosina was born at home in Newark, NJ on January 1, 1921. (Well, technically, it was December of 1920, but as the story goes, the midwives didn’t like that date.) Rosina died at home in West Orange, NJ, on Thursday, July 7, 2022. From her first moments to her last, she was at home and her home was always loving, welcoming, and happy - filled with laughter and music and movies and sewing and food and love.

When she was outside of her home, she was very busy at one of her many jobs or volunteering - serving her church, her community and her family. Or perhaps she was in Atlantic City, or playing cards with her friends. She may have been at the movies or the opera. Perhaps visiting or taking care of family. Wherever she went, she brought smiles (and a cheesecake). She had many roles, but the ones that she cherished the most all included the word “mother” - she was a loving and beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

Rose met and married the love of her life, Mike Mirabella, and together they raised eight children. Their descendants have grown to number more than seventy.

Rosina was predeceased by her parents, Giuseppina and Michele Colacurto, her siblings, Italia, Vincenza, Clara and Tony, her husband, Michael and her son Michael. She is survived by her children Nicholas Mirabella and his wife Susan, Antoinette (Dolly) Cunningham and her husband Terrence, Linda Mirabella and her husband Joe Trabucco, Barbara Mirabella Leonard and her husband Daniel Leonard, Dr. Roseanne Mirabella and her husband Michael Prendergast, Betty Ann Yates and her husband Patrick, Jeanne Marie Mirabella and her husband Peter Muriello, twenty-eight grandchildren, nineteen great-grandchildren… and counting. Each one of these people was precious to her and she to them.

Rosina loved wearing and seeing others in bright clothes. Rosina’s family invites you to join us as we eschew the darkness and instead, celebrate her life in bright and colorful attire.

In lieu of flowers and in memory of Rosina’s beloved son Michael, donations can be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering.