Rose Viola

Beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother

Rose C. Viola, 93, a lifelong resident of Staten Island, passed on Oct. 26, 2018.

Born Rose C. Gesso in Port Richmond, she moved to Westerleigh as a young girl and attended Port Richmond High School.

During WWII, she worked at Singers in Elizabeth, N.J., making parts for fighter planes. She later worked for the telephone company on Staten Island. She married Ben Viola in 1947 and they were married for 69 years and had three children.

Rose loved watching her son, Anthony, play baseball and football for many years. "My mom was my biggest fan. She never missed a game and made sure I had the cleanest uniform on the team." "My Mom was the most selfless person I knew. Everything she did was for her family. I will miss her enormously," said her son.

She also loved bowling, going to Atlantic City and the racetrack. Two of her favorite trips were going to Las Vegas with her children and grandchildren for her 30th and 50th wedding anniversary.

She also enjoyed going to her grandchildren's sporting events and school activities along with rooting for the New York Yankees and the New York Giants. Her children and grandchildren loved her Sunday dinners. She was a very good cook with her specialties being beef stew, lasagna, eggplant parmigiana and chicken soup.

She was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She was also a very caring and generous person who was always there for all of us. She especially loved Facetiming and looking at all the videos of her great -grandchildren. "My mother was my rock and I will miss her terribly," said her daughter Linda. "My Mom brought so much love and joy into my life and those around her, but most of all she truly was my very best friend," said her daughter Phyllis. "I will miss her always."

Surviving are her daughters, Linda Bottone, Phyllis Worona, son, Anthony Viola, daughter-in-law Gina, seven grandchildren, Tara, Leslie, John, Jared, Anthony, Christopher, Joseph and two great-grandsons, Arien and River, also a brother, Tony Gesso. She was predeceased by her husband, Ben, sisters, Susan Locastro, Anne LaMendella, Mary Dogery and brothers, Michael and James Scotto and Dominick Gesso.

Visitation will be on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at Harmon Funeral Home from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. There will be a Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 31, at Blessed Sacrament Church. Burial will follow at St. Peter's Cemetery.

Harmon Funeral Home

571 Forest Ave.

Staten Island, N.Y. 10310

(718) 442-5056

Published in Staten Island Advance on Oct. 29, 2018