Rita Bonvino

BONVINO, RITA CRISCITELLI Rita Criscitelli Bonvino, wife of the late Thomas Michael Bonvino, died at the Middlesex Hospital Hospice in Middletown, Connecticut surrounded by her loving family on March 19, 2014, Saint Joseph’s Feast Day. She was born in Enfield, Connecticut, on May 8, 1926, the daughter of the late Carmine and Louis (Guadagna) Criscitelli, who immigrated from Naples, Italy, in the early 20th century, settling in Enfield. Rita was the matriarch and the last living surviving sibling of the Criscitelli family. She is predeceased by four brothers: Anthony, Albert, Louis, Fiore Criscitelli; and three sisters: Mary Gillman, Carmela Desmarais, and Helen Magnesi. Rita was a graduate of Enfield High School Class of 1944, where she received a distinguished award in Excellence in Cursive Handwriting and a full scholarship to the Hartford Academy of Hairdressing and Cosmetology. She began her career at Claire’s Beauty Shop in Hartford, CT. On April 10, 1948, at St. Mary’s in Middletown, CT, she met the love of her life, Thomas Michael Bonvino, at their best friends Joseph and Anna Ferrera’s wedding. Tom and Rita were married on June 18, 1949, at St. Albert’s Church in Enfield, CT. Rita continued with her hairdressing career, working at the Duchess Washington Street for over thirty years. She worked with her good friends Jean McCauley and Jay Luberti. Rita and Thomas raised their daughter Elizabeth in the Bonvino family home surrounded by the business of G. Bonvino and Son Monumental Works on 668 South Main Street. Rita was an active and lifelong parishioner of Saint Sebastian Parish as well as a member of the St. Theresa Guild, AARP, Emblem Club, Italian American Women’s Club, and an Auxiliary Member of the Mount Carmel Ladies Guild in Enfield, Connecticut. Rita is survived by her daughter and caregiver, Elizabeth, of Middletown; her granddaughter Jessica and her husband Ian Fitzgerald; and her great-grandson, Colin Thomas Fitzgerald. She is also survived by her beloved in-laws: Vincent and his wife Janis Bonvino of Margate, Florida; Rafaline and her husband Donald Langenauer Sr. of Berlin, CT; Phyllis and her husband Monte Parola of Pembroke Pines, FL. Also many loving nieces and nephews. Relatives and friends may pay their respects on Monday, March 24, 2014, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at D’Angelo Funeral Home. A mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on March 24, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. at Saint Sebastian Church, Middletown, CT. Burial will be in the Bonvino Family Plot at Saint Sebastian Cemetery, Middlefield, CT. The family requests that Rita will be honored as she lived her life, with tremendous faith in God and Saint Sebastian, by making memorial contributions to Saint Sebastian Restoration and Middlesex Hospital Hospice and Palliative Care.