Ann Donna Torneo

We are heartbroken to announce that Ann Donna (Tiernan) Torneo, 83, passed away on January 11, 2023. She was born February 2, 1939 to Florence and Philip Tiernan in Hartford. She was the only daughter and middle child; her older brother is Peter and her younger brother is Michael. When she was just two years old, her own father died and her mother went to work. Growing up on Campfield Avenue in a house her grandfather helped build, her grandmother and aunt Teresa O’Meara lived in the upstairs apartment and became central in her upbringing. She attended St. Augustine’s and then Bulkeley High School, where she was a legendary beauty with dark hair and blue eyes that earned her the title of Lettermen’s Club Queen in 1957. She loved roller dancing, reading and going to the movies at Webster Theater. In 1961, she was a finalist for the Miss National Home Week. Her mother, whom she said ruled with an iron fist, told her “while [she] may not marry Irish, [she] would marry Catholic.” So a handsome Italian football player at Bulkeley who had grown up around the corner in the South End would do. They married in May 1962, and then drove to Florida and took a cruise to the Virgin Islands where they honeymooned. She worked at Hartford Electric Light Company for several years. They settled in Rocky Hill.

Though she was cheerily efficient, incredibly organized, and could have easily been the C.O.O. of a multinational corporation, her life’s ambition was to simply be a stay at home mother, something she had never had. With the arrival of her first son Joseph in 1969, she became the devoted mother she had longed to be. Joey was followed by Michael, then her daughter Erin, and finally, Patrick. Her kids called her the Energizer Bunny: she was always in motion, volunteering at schools, driving her kids to dance, soccer, baseball, basketball, school dances and cooking dinner every night. Her house was immaculately clean.

She was a devout Catholic and was a parishioner at St. James Church. There she was part of the Women’s Bowling League and later on, she fed the homeless.

She loved life and got to travel frequently when her daughter moved to California and later Ireland. Memorable trips include driving up Route 1 in California to Carmel; Italy with her brother Peter and his wife Ann and brother- in-law Nick and his wife Carol Torneo; meeting her daughter in London and having tea at The Ritz. Her greatest joy was her grandchildren. In 2012, for their 50th anniversary, they flew to Dublin to visit their daughter and her family before they all headed to Paris. In 2013, Ann and Erin and two grandsons took a very special road trip across Ireland to meet her relatives, who still live on the family dairy farm where her great grandfather was born.

In the last five years, our energizer bunny had to slow down but her sunny and indomitable spirit never changed. She was at peace with her death and was surrounded by family and compassionate care at Middlesex Hospital. She leaves behind her devoted spouse of 60 years, Joseph Torneo of Rocky Hill, her children and 10 grandchildren: Joseph Torneo and grandson Luke Torneo of Colchester; Michael Torneo and Crystal Taylor-Torneo and grandsons Zachary and Christian Torneo of East Lyme; Erin Torneo and Sascha Paladino and grandsons Cole, Gianluca and Liam Paladino of Los Angeles, CA; Patrick Torneo and Lisa D’Angelo-Torneo and grandsons Dillon, Vince and Nico, and granddaughter Angelina Torneo of Rocky Hill.

Calling hours will be held on Monday, January 16 from 10-11 a.m. immediately followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. at St. Josephine Bakhita Parish (St. James Church), 767 Elm Street, Rocky Hill. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Ann’s name to Corpus Christi School Annual Fund, 581 Silas Deane Highway, Wethersfield, CT 06109. The D’Esopo Funeral Chapel, Wethersfield has been entrusted with the arrangements. To share a memory of Ann with her family, please visit www.desopofuneralchapel.com.