Josephine Mondo

Josephine Mondo of 166 East 61st Street Manhattan died on February 15, 2016 at her sister's home in Staten Island. She was 86.

Josie was born in Brooklyn on July 9, 1929, the daughter of Antoinette (nee Guadagno) and Joseph. She attended St. Joseph School on Dean Street. She worked as a nurses aide from the time she was 16-years old beginning at New York Eye and Ear, then The Jewish Hospital of Brooklyn, Menorah Home for the Aged, Bethany Deaconess (now Wyckoff Heights) and finally St. John's Episcopal Home for the Aged and the Blind (now Interfaith). She won many employee awards for her dedication to work and was loved by her fellow workers and patients.

She raised 4 boys: her sons: Richard (d. 1993), Pepe (d. 1993), Dominick Aponte and her nephew Ronald Landri, with whom she lived until her death. She was sister to Rosie (d. 1992), Tessie, and Louis (d. 1993). She was the aunt of Victoria (Nanny) Jaccheo and Jacqueline D'Alessio. She was the beloved grandmother to Vanessa, Alexander, Joseph, Andrew and Elizabeth and mother-in-law to Susan. It was a source of sadness to her that she lost contact with her many cousins in the DeVivo and Guadagno families. She was the widow of Joseph.

Josie was a truly selfless person, never thinking of herself; always putting the needs of others before her own. For her, nothing was too difficult to do if it was to help someone. As a teenager, she cared for her dying mother giving up her chances to continue her education. She worked all through the years of raising her children. She took care of her sick brother Louis for most of his adult life, and her sister Rose, when she was dying. After her son Pepe died, she raised his two boys Alex and Joey. She loved simple things: reading poetry, going to the movies, listening to music, completely re-arranging the apartment every day, going to McDonalds, visiting the 99-cent store, taking a walk. Everything was fun to her and she appreciated everything. She was the glue that kept our family together. She will be profoundly missed.

Funeral Mass: her childhood parish: Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, Brooklyn. Interment: Pinelawn Memorial Gardens, Farmingdale.

Death is a sniper. Nora Ephron

…we seem to be given our roles…they cast me. The Shoes of the Fisherman

When I am old woman, I shall wear purple. Jenny Joseph

Something quite remote from anything the builders intended had come out of their work and out of the fierce little human tragedy in which I played. Brideshead Revisited

Love like you've never been hurt. William Purkey

" And though after this body is destroyed by worms, yet in my flesh shall I see God...Yes, I will see Him with my own eyes, and not as a stranger." Job 19

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end." Lamentations 3 .

Published on NYTimes.com from Sept. 5 to Sept. 6, 2017