Anna Cassarino

Anna Maria Theresa (Mangini) Cassarino, 84, of East Hartford, beloved wife of the late Sylvester “Sal” Cassarino, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, January 11, 2022. Anna was born on April 1, 1937, in Hartford, CT. She was the daughter of the late Domenico “Antoni” Mangini and Margherita (Nardi) Mangini, who immigrated to the United States from Italy. Anna is the youngest of five siblings. She was preceded in death by her older brothers, Carmine, Frank, and Manny Mangini, and is survived by her sister and the oldest sibling, Julia Colturi. Anna always lit up whenever she talked about her family. Her parents were hard workers who instilled a good work ethic, the value of an education, and the importance of family in their children. Anna was very close to her mother, Margherita, and talked all the time about what a wonderful person she was, how she immigrated here from Italy, worked hard, valued education, and showed unconditional love for them.

Anna worked at Pratt and Whitney and worked part-time at Advest. While she was working at Pratt and Whitney, her husband, Sal, worked next door. He would walk by and see Anna through the window eating lunch and would wave at her. Sal would always notice the big homemade grinder Anna was eating during her lunch when he would walk by. Then, he asked her out and they eventually got married. They made a home in East Hartford while raising their family. Sal and Anna had four children: Stephen Cassarino and his wife Janece of San Diego, CA, David Cassarino and his wife Lisa of Tolland, Maria Clarke and her husband Eric of East Hartford, and Lydia Cassarino of East Hartford. Growing up, there was always laughter, food, and love. No matter what happened, Anna and Sal always supported and loved their children; and also fed them the best Italian food around! There wasn’t a time where someone didn’t have a bowl of pasta or a piece of bread on their plates! Anna always took pride in her cooking, especially her sauce! Even if you did not know which house was Anna’s, you could tell because you could smell the sauce cooking from the driveway before you even walked through the front door!

Family was everything to Anna and she always spent as much time as she possibly could with all of her children. Her sons, Stephen and David, would always put a smile on her face and make her laugh with their great senses of humor and jokes. Anna would always enjoy it when Stephen would come home to visit from California. She enjoyed spending time with him and the delicious meals he made for everyone. Anna also enjoyed her time with David, and there was always a meal waiting for him. She loved whenever he would take her to the casino and all the times he really made her laugh. Anna loved to go browsing everywhere, and would go with her daughter, Maria, all the time. She also loved going to get her hair done each week with Maria and then going out to lunch at City Fish afterward or just munching on some Italian cookies from Chimirri’s Bakery. Anna loved going with her daughter, Lydia, to the casino as well, but especially to the Riverfront to look at the water, have lunch, walk around, talk, and spend quality time together. Sometimes, they would just drive around and have long talks. Anna was close with her son-in-law, Eric, who was always close by to lend a helping hand. He would always offer her a glass of wine or beer with dinner, in which she would always accept. However, she was always very quick to tell Eric if the wine was too bitter! Everyone always did everything they could to make sure Anna was always taken care of.

As her children started their own families, Anna was constantly involved with everyone, including her grandchildren. Anna was blessed with seven grandchildren: Jaclyn Clarke, Samantha Clarke Keenan and her husband Patrick, Brittany Clarke, Dominic Cassarino, Vince Cassarino, Giovanni Cassarino, and Ian Cassarino. She spent every second she could with her grandchildren, developing her own special bond and relationship with each of them. Each grandchild could tell just how special they were to Anna and how much she “loved them to pieces.” Anna was more than just a grandmother to them - she was like their second mother, supporting them in all of their extracurricular activities and constantly telling them how proud she was of all of them. Her oldest granddaughter, Jaclyn, asked Anna when she was very young what her first name was. She responded, “Anna” and Jaclyn said, “Me and the girls (Samantha and Brittany) are going to call you Anna.” Well, that stuck throughout the years, and everyone that met her called her Anna.

Anyone who knows Anna will say that she loved to cook. Almost everyone tried some of Anna's food, whether it was at a party at her house or she brought it to your own home. Some of her infamous dishes were her pasta with sauce, fried peppers, soup, chicken, and her homemade jarred hot peppers (this was everybody’s favorite). Anna’s house was everybody’s home. Everyone was always welcomed and there was always a plate of food waiting for anyone who visited. Not only did Anna open her heart to those in her home, but she always opened her heart to those less fortunate. For many years, Anna would go to Panera Bread each week, fill her car up with different breads and danish, and bring it to the homeless shelter in Hartford. Her compassion for others was fueled by her belief in God. She always told everyone that God put us on this Earth for a reason. Anna’s reason and purpose was to make everyone feel special, comforted, and loved. Anna never judged anyone, treated everyone equally, was the first person to lend a helping hand, and make them feel loved. Our entire family, and anyone that has had the blessing of meeting her, experienced her unconditional love, generosity of her time, and her gift of making others feel that they were loved and important.

Anna passed away peacefully in her home on Tuesday, January 11, 2022, the way she would have wanted - with her loving family all around her. Anna never missed a day demonstrating her love for her family and was always willing to listen, help, and be available to any one of her family members. Whenever anyone in the family would ask Anna, “What are we going to do when you are not here anymore?” Anna would be quick to respond and would always say, “Hey, when it’s my time, it’s my time, and you have three days to cry about it. That’s it. You come into this world, and you go and it’s part of life. It’s all mapped out; it’s all in the book.” Our three-day limit of crying has expired, but our hearts will cry forever with her memory. We love you to pieces, Anna.

Funeral service will be Wednesday (January 19, 2022) with a Mass of Christian Burial celebrated at 10 am at St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church, 285 Church Street, Hartford. Burial will follow at Mount Saint Benedict Cemetery, (Section W), 1 Cottage Grove Road, Bloomfield. The family requests that everyone go directly to the church on Wednesday morning and please wear facemasks. Calling hours will be held on Tuesday, January 18, 2022 from 4-7 pm at the D’Esopo East Hartford Memorial Chapel, 30 Carter Street, East Hartford. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Anna’s name may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105. For online condolences to the family, please visit www.desopoeh.com.