Gilda Theresa Alimonti Viggiano (Jill)

Born on December 1, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York to Alphonse and Lucy (DeLizio) Alimonti, she was the next to youngest of seven siblings. She never tired of sharing stories of her childhood spent in a small, very crowded but loving home, in a neighborhood filled with relatives and paisans from other Italian American immigrant families. Her best friends were her cousins Lucy and Jeanette who looked to her to plan their next adventure.

At Bay Ridge High, she made more friends, among them her dearest friend Gloria (Arciero) Fuscaldo. There she was a cheerleader and dreamed of going to college to become a teacher. Though she started at Brooklyn College, her correspondence with Manny, a Navy friend of a guy from the neighborhood soon changed her plans.

On April 26, 1953, she and Manny married. The family grew to include three daughters Jill, Jane and Judy. Her years as a wife and mother brought her great joy. She took pride in always having a home cooked, nutritious dinner on the table and maintaining a clean and welcoming home. When Manny was transferred to New Jersey, Gilda bravely left her close-knit familiar and forged a new life in Brookwood in Jackson, New Jersey. Rita Sheehan another New Yorker transplanted from New York to Brookwood whose husband Johnny had also been transferred soon became her closest friend and confidant.

After decades in Jackson, Jill and Manny followed the Sheehan’s to Brick, New Jersey. With other friends from Brookwood, Jill and Manny enjoyed a fulfilling life. They traveled and golfed. They loved going to New York to the opera. Some weekends Jill was Manny’s first mate on the ‘The Tempest”, a day sailor they bought after the kids finished college. Together they took up skiing and running in mid life and were proud finishers of the Spring Lake Five several times. At 51, Jill completed her Associates Degree from Ocean County Community College and went on to be the invaluable Executive Assistant to the Manager of the Macy’s Furniture Store in Eatontown, NJ.

Eventually they settled at Renaissance, with the Sheehan’s and other Brookwood friends. Though Manny died soon after the move, Jill once again made a new life for herself there making many wonderful cherished friends. Her motto” You can’t hit a moving target” motivated her to fill her days with all that the Renaissance community offered- bocce and shuffleboard, lunches, dinner events, concerts, and movies. Jill was so proud to be part of the Renaissance Ladies Golf Association and could be found out on the course (usually walking!) until last fall. If a friend belonged to a club, Jill joined- The Brooklyn Club, the Essex Club, the Irish Club—she wasn’t Irish or from Essex. She loved her mahjongg group and Thursday cards friends. Most summer days you could find her at the pool, looking great in a bathing suit even at 91! And when it was time for the Renaissance Olympics, Jill was ready to do whatever it took for her team to win.

Jill’s yard on Drayton Road was home to her prized fig tree which she lovingly tended for decades. Everyone awaited the annual announcement that there were figs and the lucky ones received a few of the precious fruit nestled in an egg carton.

Jill’s own social events, like her Halloween parties when she went all out with her costume and decorations and spooky “treats”, complemented the community calendar.

She became an honorary member of her daughter Jane’s Manchester High “tribe” and enjoyed her days at North Ave Beach with “the Girls”, especially Local’s Summer.

While social activities were important, even more so were her volunteer activities. Until last year she worked every election at the Renaissance polling station. Most special was her service as a Eucharistic minister at St. Luke’s, where she also did homebound visitation. Jill thought being a Eucharistic Minister was her greatest honor.

Jill’s utmost legacy is her family. She delighted in the addition of sons-in-law, then the 10 grandchildren who called her “Gram”. But nothing topped being Gigi to her 9 great grandchildren. Every one of the kids has a blanket lovingly knit by her.

Jill leaves behind so many memories and friends, including her newest friends at the Pinnacle where she moved in May. Her family and friends have countless stories of Jill’s love and devotion to family, love of a good time and a good laugh to fill days ahead when she will be sorely missed.

The memories that are the most poignant and most cherished are holiday traditions that will never be the same without her- the annual making of the Italian fried rosettes called “crustles” on her birthday weekend and the Italian American tradition of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve which Jill continued to host every year. This year when the family gathers for the feast to toast Manny with the smelts he loved, they will eat spaghetti with fish sauce, minus the crabs Jill caught every summer to add to the gravy!

Jill was predeceased by her parents, Lucy and Alphonse, by Manny, her husband of fifty years, her brothers and sisters in law, Dominick (Helen), Fred (Tosca), Adam, Rudy (Josette) and Mike DiLillo; best friends Gloria Fuscaldo and Rita Sheehan.

Jill’s passing has deeply touched her sister Gloria DiLillo, brother Alphonse Jr and sister-in-law Josephine Alimonti who cannot imagine the family without her.

The family Jill leaves behind to grieve her loss include daughters Jill Ann Viggiano, Jane Williams (Kevin), Judith Cummins (Ron), grandchildren Stephen Mueller (Andrea), Cory Mueller Kacergis (Joe), Dan Mueller, Brandon Williams (Jill), Alexandra Williams, Michael O’Connor (Ansley), Sean O’Connor (Devon), Fallon O’Connor, Christian Cummins (Caroline), and Katie Cummins Dooley (Will) and great grandchildren Joey Kacergis, Nathan Kacergis, Anna Rose Kacergis, Everett Mueller, Carter Williams, Luca Williams, Teddy Dooley, Matty Dooley and Samson Emanuel O’Connor.

Many nieces, nephews and special people including nephew Rob Almo, cousin Lucy Smith, goddaughters Debbie Sweeney and Lori Levine, and friends Jo LeRoy, Dee Sullivan and all who loved her at Renaissance and the Pinnacle will miss her laughter and vivacious spirit.

A visitation for Jill will be held Wednesday, August 27, 2025 from 4:00 to 8:00 PM at the Anderson & Campbell Funeral Home, 3010 Ridgeway Road, Manchester, NJ 08759. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, August 28, 2025 at 10:30 AM, St. Luke Roman Catholic Church, 1674 Old Freehold Rd, Toms River, NJ 08755. Interment will be private

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jill's memory to the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. www.stjude.org