Filomena DiIorio

DiIORIO
Filomena "Nina" (nee Spina), age 101, of Franklin Lakes, NJ, passed away peacefully at home on Wednesday, December 12, 2012. Born in New York City, and raised on Staten Island, Nina worked as a secretary and office manager in New York City after graduating from Curtis High School in 1929. In a true New York moment, she met Frank DiIorio on the Staten Island Ferry, and they married on January 28, 1948. Their son, Frank Christopher, was born in 1952. After her marriage, Nina stayed at home with their son and her mother, Maria Teresa Spina, and periodically traveled to exotic locations such as the Canary Islands during the summers, to be with her husband, who often worked abroad as an electrical engineer.
The family moved to Franklin Lakes in 1967. It was there that Nina's commitment to community involvement flourished. She was active in the Franklin Lakes Woman's Club for 33 years and began the town's Meals On Wheels program in 1985, serving as director of that organization for 22 years. She chaired many committees in the Franklin Lakes Seniors, and organized the town's flu clinic for ten years. In 1994, Nina and her husband were named Bergen County Volunteers of the Year.
Her dedication to community was exceeded only by her ability to become friends with everyone she met. She attributed part of her longevity to maintaining old friendships and being able to make new friends all her life. Her warmth and hospitality will be missed by the many people she hosted at her home and the beautiful birds in her backyard who gave her hours of viewing pleasure. Nina was a remarkable and formidable combination of dignity, beauty, generosity and feistiness. "I always stood up for myself" she said in her last days, and she did so with the grace and dignity that characterized her generation.
Nina was predeceased by her husband, who passed in 1999 at the age of 91. She was also predeceased by her twin sister, Seraphina "Sally" Russo in 2004, and a brother, Francesco Spina, who died in childhood. Surviving are her loving son, Frank DiIorio, and his wife, April Sansom, of Philadelphia. "Grandma PJ" will also be missed by her granddaughters, Amelia DiIorio and Sophia DiIorio. Also surviving are her two nieces, Alice Morris (and her husband, Roger) of Staten Island, and Maria Russo (and her spouse, Jill Pollack) of New York City, and two nephews, Nicholas Russo (and his spouse, Jerry Rumain) of New York City, and Louis Blois, of Staten Island. These relatives and her many, many friends mourn her loss and celebrate her long, well lived life.
A memorial Mass will be held on Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 10:30 AM at the Church of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Franklin Lakes, 787 Franklin Lake Road. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the New Jersey Audubon Society.