Charlotte Emily Lombardo, age 89, of Fairfax, VA passed away March 14, 2019. She is survived by her husband, Joseph R. Lombardo. Charlotte is also survived by her children: Frederick J. Lombardo, Virginia M. Kazmierczak, Joseph S. Lombardo, and Michael A. Lombardo; 9 grandchildren: Andrew, Karen, Nicolas, Mark, Laura, Joey, Vince, Charlotte and Spencer and 2 great grandchildren: Nicolas and Joaquin.
Charlotte was a favorite cafeteria lady at Fairfax and Westfield High Schools, where she retired from Fairfax County School System.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 12:30PM on Saturday, March 23, 2019 at Demaine Funeral Home, 10565 Main Street, Fairfax, VA, where a reception will follow. Inurnment will be held at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to either: St. Jude Children's Hospital or Capital Caring Hospice Services.
Charlotte spent her entire life taking care of people and she had a special fondness for children and animals that showed itself in all that she did.
She was also a very determined woman. Determined to build the best life possible for her family, determined to create beauty and order around her. And Charlotte had a lot of ‘spirit’. She built strong friendships, and had a quiet wry wit, right up to her last days.
Charlotte got early practice in caring for people as a young girl and an only child. She had many household duties that were necessary to support her mother, Emily, who was limited in what she could do due to emphysema.
Her spirit strengthened at Grover Cleveland H.S. in Buffalo, NY; where she was involved in sports and clubs. There, she developed a tight group of close friends. Charlotte was interested in accounting and had a brief stint as a worker in bookkeeping for one of the local department stores.
At an early age, she set her eye on her future husband, Joseph R. Lombardo, who was recently discharged from the Army Air Corps. They married and Charlotte bore four children – Frederick, Virginia, Joseph S. and Michael. Joe and Charlotte worked together to raise successful adults.
Charlotte supported her husband in building no less than four houses; doing construction work and most decorating on weekends. During that time, they especially enjoyed Halloween costume parties. Charlotte enjoyed parties in general, well into her 80’s.
During much of her adult life, Charlotte was involved in caring for people as her paid work. She worked two waitress jobs, she helped her first born run his liquor store and she helped her second son run a restaurant. To say nothing about helping her children with her 9 grandchildren. She also enjoyed feeding birds, and sometimes other wildlife.
Once she moved to Virginia, Charlotte took a job providing food for high school students as a cafeteria worker, where she won several performance awards. She worked for Fairfax County Public Schools in both Fairfax High School and Westfield High School for about 30 years, retiring in her 80’s.
Determined to stay active and social; Charlotte took up walking after she retired. She knew the names of most dogs and many cats in her neighborhood. After a lifetime of dealing with young people; she befriended some of the children on her block.
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