Vito Leone

Vito Leone went home to his Lord on December 6, 2025, at 102 years old. Born in Boston on September 7, 1923, of Italian immigrant parents Michaelangelo Leone and Rosina Laino. Raised a devout Catholic his deep faith both informed and guided his walk-through life. He practiced unconditional love of family. He was admired and respected by neighbors and friends as someone you could count on for sage advice or a helping hand.

Some interesting things about Vito:

He is related to renowned operatic tenor, Enrico Caruso. Fine voices are still being passed down in the family.

He learned to cook at an early age and was known for his signature pasta sauce, meatballs and homemade ravioli which his family relished for decades.

As a youth he raised homing pigeons on his rooftop. When he traveled to visit a cousin in Rhode Island, he took one with him and sent it back home with a note to let his parents know he arrived safely.

At age nineteen Vito joined the US Navy and served in the Solomon Islands from 1942 to 1945 repairing airplanes shot up in battle, including those of Pappy Boyington and his Black Sheep Squadron. Fast forward to 2000 when Vito attended a reunion of its surviving members at Seattle's Museum of Flight. Upon recognizing the logo on his cap, one member reached out, shook his hand and uttered a sincere "thank you for fixing our planes". It meant a lot to hear those words of acknowledgement and appreciation of his war contribution.

After the war, while stationed at Sand Point Naval Air Station, he met his future wife, Jean Cloud, at a Seattle roller-skating rink. They married in 1947 in Boston. Returning soon to Washington, Vito obtained work at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard as a skilled sheet metal mechanic. Smart, talented and well-liked, he progressed to supervisor and ship-scheduler during his 31-year employment. He also served as a volunteer firefighter from 1961 to 1989 at Kitsap County Fire District #15.

Vito and Jean raised four children at their home on Island Lake where they lived for 73 years. He loved to trout-fish off his dock, garden, and make wine. They both enjoyed skiing, swimming, hiking in the Olympic mountains, and camping, which became memorable family activities.

In the 1970's Vito built a log cabin in NE Washington with a view of the Canadian mountains that Jean loved. They enjoyed their getaways of relative solitude, becoming endeared to a small, back-to-nature community where their son and oldest daughter had put down roots.

Vito was preceded in death by his son, Jeno Michael Leone; daughters Mary Parker and Paula Steinkraus; sisters Carmela Cannata, Mary Stuart, and Yolanda Franklin, grandson Dylan Steinkraus, and infant granddaughter Carmen Leone.

He leaves behind his wife of 78 years, Jean Leone; daughter Vita Joan Weaver [Dewey]; sister Gloria Bumpus; grandchildren Kristen McMurray, Alethea Mari [Andy], Neale Cresswell [Jeff], Jennifer Miller [Lukas], Jacob Leone, Jamila Leone, Chelan Huddleston [Ean], Orinna Barton [Thomas]; ten great-grandchildren; and extended family members Judy Willits [Chuck], Carol O'Brien and Neva Cutler.

Vito was buried with military honors at Tahoma National Cemetery as one of the last of "The Greatest Generation."