Victor John Avondoglio

Victor Avondoglio, 92, died peacefully on July 6, 2023, at his Andover home. He was the patriarch and last surviving member of the third generation of the Perona Farms family. Born in NYC, his father ran a tavern in Queens, and Victor got his start in the family business, helping on weekends and after school.

Victor attended New York University and NYC Community College. When the Korean conflict escalated, he joined the US Marine Corps, seeing combat with the 2nd Battalion First Division under Commander “Chesty” Puller, the most highly decorated Marine in US history. Victor was the division’s “Expert Marksman.”

After the war, Victor worked on the NY Stock Exchange before deciding the restaurant business was his true calling. He was offered a position in New Jersey with Emil Perona at the namesake restaurant he and his wife Angiolina started in 1917. Emil’s granddaughter, Maureen DeBergh (whose parents owned the Moresque in West Orange, NJ) often ventured to Andover on weekends to visit her grandparents. Victor pursued the beautiful granddaughter, and they married in 1955. Maureen and Victor preferred Andover to West Orange, and the Moresque was sold, becoming “The Manor.” Perona Farms, now run by the family’s fourth and fifth generations, coordinates over 500 weddings and events annually on its 57 acres.

Victor was the ultimate host and enjoyed seeing people having a good time. He met many different and exciting people over the years at Perona Farms and through his world travels. He was in the “Hospitality Business,” and his affection for people drove his civic-mindedness and hard work benefiting the community.

Over his long career at Perona Farms, Victor was recognized as Restauranteur of the Year by the New Jersey Restaurant Association and the International Geneva Association. He was a member of the Board of Midlantic National Bank, SCARC, the Newton Country Club, the Patriot Path Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and the Advisory Board of Fairleigh Dickinson University School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management. He served as President of many organizations, including the Sparta Chamber of Commerce, the New Jersey Restaurant Association, the New Jersey Restaurant Association Good Government Fund, and the Sussex County Vo-Tech Advisory Board.

Other notable volunteer work included serving as chairman of Newton Memorial Hospital’s 1988 “Campaign for New Initiatives,” which raised over $2.8 million. For over 20 years, Victor served on the Boy Scouts of America committee for the Annual Thomas Roselli Golf Outing. He also was a founding committee member for the Boy Scout’s Sussex County Distinguished Citizen Award, which he subsequently received in 1991.

Victor was also a founder of the Sussex County Scholar Athlete Program and an active supporter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, which seeks a cure for a disease afflicting his late wife Maureen and eldest son Mark. In the 1970’s, Victor began a benefit golf tournament for Camp Nejeda (for Diabetic Children) at Newton CC, which raised $20,000 over 8 straight years. The metro area golf professionals playing with 3 amateurs called “The Perona Invitational--- the best tournament in the state!” One golfer every year won a brand-new car in a special raffle limited to the 200 players.

Victor’s most well-known traits were traveling, dining out, golfing, and his love of family. He also was known for calling his many friends late at night or early in the morning to relate a recent story, play a joke, or ask them to join him for something on the spur of the moment!

Victor always found time for his family. He and his wife Maureen traveled to many parts of the world, and they spent most of the winter months over the last 35 years at their Florida home in Pompano Beach. Traditions that Victor was instrumental in crafting over the last 65 years are still very prevalent in the Perona family philosophy that “everyone helps.”

Victor’s wife of 58 years, Maureen (DeBergh), died in 2013. He is survived by his caregiver of over 20 years, Alberto Tinio; his sons, Mark of Andover, Wade and his wife, Ginny, of Mt Pleasant, SC, Kirk and his wife, Mary, of Andover; and his daughter Tracey Ivaldi and her longtime companion, Michael Thom, of Andover. He has 10 grandchildren: Erica Avondoglio and husband, Jake Bach, of Randolph, Dane Avondoglio and wife, Renata, of Cincinnati, OH, Bryant Avondoglio and wife, Ellie, of Randolph, Jay Avondoglio and wife, Nicole, of Hillsdale, Marley Avondoglio of Sparta, Roman Ivaldi and wife, Ashleigh, of Abingdon, MD, Reece Ivaldi of Budd Lake, Remy Ivaldi of Andover, Kirk Avondoglio Jr. of Andover, and Rylan Ivaldi of Andover – and 4 great-grandchildren: Nicholas and Lucy Avondoglio, and Jackson and Bennett Bach.

Memorial Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 pm on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, at Good Shepherd R.C. Church, 48 Tranquility Road, Andover Boro, NJ. A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 am on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, at the church.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to: Newton Medical Center Foundation, 175 High Street, Newton, NJ 07860.

Arrangements are under the direction of Smith-McCracken Funeral Home, Newton, NJ; online condolences may be offered at www.smithmccrackenfuneralhome.com.