Anthony "Tony" Rabitz

Anthony S. Rabitz of New Hope, PA, passed away at home on Friday, April 1, 2022 following a courageous battle with cancer. He was 72 years old. Born in Johnstown, PA, Tony was the son of Jane Sottile Jones and the late Stanley Rabitz. He is survived by his wife Jo Ann Battagliese Rabitz, his children Tony, Nicole, Michael and Ryan; daughters-in-law Tara and Shannon; grandchildren Taylor, Dalia, Sydney and Kayla; sister, Barbara and brother, Stanley. Tony grew up in Perth Amboy, New Jersey and graduated from Perth Amboy High School in 1967. He proudly served as a US Marine and completed two tours of duty in Vietnam. Following his military service, Tony worked at Tenneco Chemical before joining Occidental Chemical in Burlington, NJ in 1984 where he met his wife, Jo Ann. They married in 1994 and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. It was in Raleigh that Tony combined his entrepreneurial spirit and his love for Italian food to open two Italian restaurants "A Touch of Italy" and "Anthony's" which he ran for 11 years along with his son, Ryan. Tony's passion for excellence, love for entertaining and engaging personality were key ingredients to the restaurants' popularity and success. Tony loved an adventure and he embraced the opportunity to relocate to Sydney, Australia in 2012 where he and Jo Ann lived for four years. They returned in 2016 and lived in Monroe, NJ before moving to New Hope, PA in November 2020. He was an avid Rod Stewart fan and he and Jo Ann attended concerts in cities across the US and as far away as London, England and Sydney and Adelaide in Australia. His favorite vacations involved the sun, sand and salt water. In the last few years he favored Turks and Caicos and Miami, Florida where he enjoyed the warm weather, the beach and spending time with his family. Family and friends are invited to a viewing on Wednesday, April 6, 2022 from 6 to 8 pm at John F. Givnish Funeral Home in Buckingham, PA (Leaver/Cable Funeral Home), 4886 York Rd. and at Saint Martin of Tours RC Church, 1 Riverstone Circle, New Hope, PA, on Thursday April 7, 2022 from 9 to 10 am. There will be a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 am on Thursday followed by a graveside ceremony at Calvary Cemetery in Lower Merion Township, PA. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Penn Medicine Hospice, which provided outstanding care to Tony in the last six weeks of his life. Donations may be made online at www.PennMedicine.Org/hospice-donate or a check made payable to Penn Medicine Hospice may be mailed to: Penn Hospice Development Center 3535 Market Street 750 Philadelphia, PA 19104