Rose Parrillo Guarino

Rose Pauline Guarino

March 11, 1927-May 10, 2025

Colonia, NJ - Rose Pauline Guarino (nee Parrillo), 98, of Colonia, passed away peacefully, on Saturday, May 10, 2025, at her home, surrounded by family. She is survived by her children, Marie (Carl Osterman), Carole (Michael Sheahan), Lois Guarino, and Paul Guarino, M.D. She leaves cherished grandchildren Harrison Guarino Nathan, Frank Daniel Cierpial (Philippe Rougier), Mary (Paul Piro), and her adored great-grandson, Anthony Piro. She also leaves a brother-in-law, Dr. Lawrence Guarino, and many beloved nephews, nieces, and friends. She is predeceased by her husband, Louis, of 67 years, her dear son, Danny, her devoted son-in law, Frank J. Cierpial, and her sister, Josphine Venezzio. She was born in the Parrillo family home on Adams Street, Down Neck, Newark, and lived in Newark until 1956, when she and Louis moved to Colonia. Mom was known for her quick wit, her humor, her cooking, her faith, her Christmas cookies, her great organizational skills, and for her perfect memory right to the end. She was always a young spirit who cherished all things family. She retired from Siemens in Iselin, New Jersey, where she worked for 25 years. Rose always believed in the importance of medical research and fulfilled a long-held wish to donate her brain tissue to the NIH Brain & Tissue Repository at the NeuroBioBank at JJ Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, NY. A memorial Mass will be given at 10 a.m. on Wed., June 4, 2025, at St. John Vianney Church, 420 Inman Avenue, Colonia, NJ, and will be followed by a repast at Bistro 1051, 1051 Raritan Rd., Clark, NJ. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory can be made to any of her favorite charities: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (https://mfpausa.com/), or to the Alzheimer's Disease research center of your choice.

Mommy, we will never stop missing you.

Dear Grandma Rose Guarino ...

I am still lost for words.

It's strange. No one lives forever but I really thought if anyone could, it would be you. I can't express how grateful I am to have had you in my life as long as I did. How blessed I feel to have had you by my side for so many milestones. So many wonderful memories. So many stories and laughs (and cookies) that I promise to pass down to future generations. Getting to watch you become the proudest Great Grandma in the universe is an honor I will cherish for the rest of my life. To see you glow with such pure love and joy. It hurts so much when someone who loves you and your baby so deeply leaves this earth. This is a gaping hole in my heart and keeps leaving me breathless when I least expect it. All I can do is pray that you will continue to watch over us wherever you may be.

I love you so much, Grandma. Your memory will be a blessing to us always.

---Mary



I think Wynonna Judd said it perfectly and my cousin Mary Piro as well. My heart is broken, and it is a strange dynamic to feel so broken and so blessed. My Grandmother was one of the most important people in my life. She filled many roles. Grandmother, additional mother, friend, confidante, idol. We've laughed together. We've cried together. She taught me how to make the perfect meatball and how to love God. She gave me the strength to make some of the biggest decisions of my life, some that I'm still making. She gave me so much, and though I'm so far away, we were still very much a part of each other's lives. As I've said in many prayers, the world isn't going to be the same without you in it. I have your recipes. I have your Nativity set that I swear to put up every year, but going on without you is going to be so monumentally hard. Thank you for everything, Grandma. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to love you. Thank you for your unwavering support. Thank you for teaching me all the bad words in Italian. Thank you for giving me my love for life. You will be never far from my thoughts or my heart. I'm not sure what else to say, I'm still processing. I love you always, Grandma. Until we see each other again...



PS: I'm still working on the perfect meatball. Love you.

---Frankie