Margaret Rose Bove

1919 - 2010

Margaret Rose Palotta Bove, 90, of Hermosa Beach, died peacefully in her home surrounded by family at 8:00 am on September 14, 2010. Margie, or "Lefty", was born in Silver Lake, NY in 1919 to Gerolimo and Elena Palotta. During the Great Depression she would accompany her grandmother to the surrounding hills to pick berries and other wild fruit. She learned to cook from her mother Elena and later her second mother, Diomira, and it was while working in a pastry shop in Yonkers, that she met Guy Frank Bove, who came in to buy a sandwich and left determined to become her husband. They married and moved to Marion, IN, where Lefty's cheerful New York accent was a hit at the Hi-Way Drive-In Theatre that Guy managed, and her Italian cooking drew many to her tiny kitchen. Throughout their 60 years and more of married life, Lefty and Guy traveled the world together visiting friends and relatives, and after Guy retired, they moved to Hermosa Beach, next to their daughter, Elena Bove. In her later years, Lefty was gradually affected by Alzheimer's disease, which hampered her faculties but not her shining, tenacious spirit, and she never stopped responding to music. Lefty will be remembered for her exceptional talents in the kitchen and on the dance floor, her fierce pride in her family, and a laugh infectious enough to create an epidemic. She is preceded in death by her husband, Guy Bove; her two sisters, Rose and Josephine Palotta; and her two brothers, John and Caesar Palotta. She is survived by her sisters, Mona Murphy (Silver Lake, NY), Naia Penik and Mary Lou Capalbo (Airmont, NY). She is survived by her two children, of whom she was intensely proud: her son, Tom Bove of Provence, France, and her daughter, Elena Bove; as well as her devoted son-in-law, David Lamonica, of Hermosa Beach, CA. She is also survived by her seven grandchildren, Guy Bove (Geneva, Switzerland), John Bove (San Francisco, CA), Thomas Bove (London, UK), Riley Bove (Boston, MA), Daniella Bove-Lamonica (Washington, DC), Sarah Bove (Maputo, Mozambique), and Margaret Bove-Lamonica (Hermosa Beach, CA), as well as by her four great-grandchildren, Clara Jane, Percival and Arthur Bove (London, UK), and Luca Waugh (Boston, MA). If friends wish, gifts in Lefty's memory may be made to the Guy Bove Student Leadership Fund at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Friends may visit the funeral home on Wednesday from 5:00-9:00pm at White and Day Mortuary, 3215 Sepulveda Blvd, in Manhattan Beach, CA. There will also be a viewing on Friday between 2:00-4:00 and 7:00-9:00 pm at Yannantuono/Burr Davus Sharpe Funeral Homes, 584 Gramatan Avenue, Mt Vernon, NY. There will be a Mass of Christian Burial on Saturday at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, 10 S 10th Avenue, Mt. Vernon, NY at 10:00 am. Please sign the guest book at wwww.dailybreeze.com/obits. Please go to White & Day Mortuary's website, www.LAfuneral.com to send the family messages, share memories, or to obtain directions to the services.