Josephine M Abate

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother Josephine Mary Abate. Josephine, 94, passed away the evening of Tuesday, September 3, 2024. Her final moments were spent peacefully in her home in Oceanside, California, surrounded by her daughters and son-in-law.

Born on February 2, 1930, in Brooklyn, New York, Josephine was very proud of her Slovenian heritage. Her father Anthony Svet was a journalist who worked for a Slovenian newspaper and he also sang in his native tongue in various concerts. Her mother Josephine Svet Poje, also Slovenian, worked at a haberdashery fashioning men’s hats with decorative bands. During WWII, Josephine’s mother was a “Rosie the Riveter” who helped the war effort by working in the factories. Slovenia is a country in Central Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It has almost 3,000 churches, and one which still stands today was built by Josephine’s ancestors.

Josephine was a hard worker like her parents and also inherited their deep faith as well as their passion for music and fashion. She attended All Saints’ Commercial High School in Brooklyn where she met her longtime friend Ann Cheperak Prusinski. After graduating, Josephine started working as a bookkeeper and secretary, but always kept up with her singing lessons.

Josephine often told the story about how she and her best friend and future cousin Connie Monfiletto Grabowski took the train together to work and each day they were so late, the conductor had to slow down to make sure they made it. Josephine’s father joked, “If you left 5 minutes earlier, you wouldn’t have to run to catch the train every morning!”

When she was a bridesmaid in Connie’s wedding, Josephine was paired with a very handsome groomsman, and she knew she had met the love of her life—Vincent Abate. Josephine and Vincent married on May 10, 1952 at Saint Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Brooklyn. Josephine often talked about her “road trip” honeymoon where she and Vincent traveled through 19 different states and never made any reservations or plans. They just winged it! “I always loved not knowing where I was sleeping each night!” she laughed.

About 7 years later, the happy couple bought their first home in Spotswood, New Jersey, where they raised their two daughters, Debbie and Donna. During those growing up years, Josephine and Vincent took their daughters on many road trips across the country visiting 48 states to see popular landmarks such as Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and Disneyland. How spoiled was Josephine on these trips? Vincent bought a portable battery-operated mini-TV so she could watch her soap operas in the car!

Josephine and Vincent also loved to take visiting relatives to Mexico, Las Vegas and the beautiful California beaches. During one of their wedding anniversaries, they traveled overseas for the first time to Portugal and Spain with Josephine’s sister Marian Svet Michel and brother-in-law John Michel. Josephine was also thrilled in 2005 to finally get a chance to visit her family’s homeland Slovenia with daughter Debbie to meet her relatives there.

Josephine and Vincent were always on the go and enjoyed many laughs and adventures during their 62-year marriage, until beloved husband and father Vincent passed away in October of 2014, at the age of 84. Josephine missed him every day and frequently shared stories and memories about him.

Josephine was a devoted Catholic and her religion and relationship with God were very important to her. She went to Mass every Sunday, even on vacation. She believed in the power of prayer and spent hours saying the rosary for all those who were sick or in need, and there was a lot of need in her lifetime! Family and friends would ask her to pray for them and sometimes she’d say 8 rosaries or more in a day! She often prayed specifically to the Mother Mary and her favorite saints—St. Jude and St. Anthony…especially if she lost something.

One of Josephine’s biggest passions was singing. She took voice lessons as a young child and even sang in Slovene Hall in New York City with her beloved father. Josephine was a very proud member of the Shepherd’s Choir at the Mission San Luis Rey Parish in Oceanside. She sang with the choir every week for 20 years before the pandemic hit. She also adored all of her choir directors and fellow singers. If you came over to her house, you’d often hear Josephine singing to her favorite movies or belting out her most beloved tunes and hymns while cooking dinner!

Anytime she was asked on her birthday what her secret for aging so gracefully was, Josephine said it was “being married to a great husband and having two wonderful daughters.” Josephine loved going out with “her girls,” whether it was to a movie or play, dinner at her favorite restaurants or shopping at the Mall. If her daughters had free tickets to a play or learned about a discount at the Wild Animal Park or Zoo and called her at the last minute, Josephine would drop everything and get ready to go. Even in her 90s, she was a “Party Girl.”

Since she was a big fan of the movies, TV shows such as “Dynasty,” “Hart to Hart,” “Rockford Files” and “Celebrity Family Feud” as well as her soap opera “General Hospital,” Josephine loved going to plays and events to meet her cherished soap stars and celebrities. In her home, Josephine dedicated a section of the garage wall, which the family dubbed the “Wall of Fame,” to display framed photos of her with all the celebrities she had met. Her most memorable moments included meeting Frankie Laine, Jimmy Stewart, Robert Goulet, Patti Page and “Dynasty” stars John Forsythe, Linda Evans and Joan Collins. The Wall of Fame also featured Josephine posing with 15 stars from “General Hospital” including: Tony (Luke Spencer) Geary, Tristan ( Robert Scorpio) Rogers and Jackie (Bobbie Spencer) Zeman.

Just like the Hollywood icons she adored, Josephine always dressed to the nines! Her daughters often called her a “Fashionista” since clothes shopping was her favorite sport. She made sure every outfit was color coordinated and highly accessorized. Josephine also had her hair done every week and kept in touch with every hairdresser she ever had!

Josephine had one other passion that must be mentioned: Dessert! If you wanted to put a smile on her face, just put one of her best-loved sweets in front of her. Her top choices: Potica: a traditional Slovenian pastry, coffee ice cream, Hershey’s kisses, vanilla merengue cookies, Almond Joy, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Kit Kats and Dum Dum lollipops, among countless others!

Josephine’s family asks that she be remembered for the joy she brought to others in life, not the sadness of her passing. We all have so many heartfelt memories of Josephine and we hope that you’ll share some of your cherished moments here.

Josephine was predeceased by her beloved husband Vincent Abate, her parents Anthony Svet and Josephine Svet Poje; her stepfather Henry Poje, her grandmother Frances Rosely, her sister Marian Svet Michel, her brothers Bobby Svet and Hank Poje Jr., her sister-in-law Rose Abate Zdanawiecz, her nephew Kevin Michel, her niece Mary-Jo Siwiec, and her cousins Connie Monfiletto Grabowski, Kathy Schwartz, Frances Svet Wesley and Frank Svet.

She is survived by her daughters Debbie Abate and Donna Abate Johnson, her son-in-law Craig Johnson, her nieces Karen Michel, Rose Laffey, Kathie Bruno, Colleen Laffey, Christine Orlandini, Karen Milligan, Carol Cremin and Sissy Frace; her nephews John Michel, Johnny Kmetz, Jim Laffey, Michael Wulffen and Joseph Abate; her cousins in Slovenia—the Braniselj family and the Jeran family; her cousins Gail Miller, Sylvia Bruno and Cindy Grahek; many great nieces, nephews and cousins; many friends whom she considered family: Gale Sanjurjo, Marlena Durgin, Trish Sanders, Mary Otavka, Diane Lettieri, Jackie Tomer, Rosemary Gilson, the Coffin family, the Brendel family, and the list goes on!

Services will be held at the Mission San Luis Rey Chapel in Oceanside on Wednesday, October 16, at 1 p.m. A reception will follow in the Parish Dining Room. And yes, in honor of our beloved and beautiful mother, there will be plenty of lollipops and sweets!