Richard S. Bator

Richard S. Bator, 71, of Norwood, passed away on Monday, February 23, 2015. Beloved husband of the late Helen (nee Plante).  Loving father of Annette Davies and husband James of Harrington Park, Richard and wife Susan of Mooresville, NC, Ronald and wife Susan of Vernon, Elizabeth and Tyrone of Wilkes-Barre, PA and Jonathan of Norwood.  Adored grandfather of Daniel, Mickale, Dylan, James, Michael and one on the way.  Dear brother of the late Lorraine Smith.  Also survived by his sister-in-law Vivian Plante and many cousins, nieces and nephews.

Richie was an x-ray technician who worked at NY Presbyterian for 50 years and Memorial Sloan Kettering for 43 years.  He was a life member of 32 years of the Norwood Volunteer Fire Department and received the Fireman of the Year award in 2014.  He also belonged to the Knights of Columbus Immaculate Conception Council 9021 in Norwood.  Rich spent many years as a Scout Master and also earned Life Scout.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday 10:00 AM at Our Lady of Victories RC Church, Harrington Park with interment to follow at Rockland Cemetery, Sparkill, NY.  Visiting hours are Thursday 7-9 and Friday 2-4 and 7-9 at Pizzi Funeral Home, 120 Paris Ave, Northvale.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Norwood Fire Department, 602 Broadway, Norwood, NJ 07648.

www.pizzifuneralhome.com

Antonio Messina

Antonio Messina, 91, of Northvale, formerly of Canarsie, Brooklyn, passed away surrounded by his loving family on Saturday, February 21, 2015.  Beloved husband of Maria.  Cherished father of Sebastian and his wife MaryAnn of Holmdel and Angelo and his wife Maria of Old Tappan.  Proud and loving grandfather of Danielle, Anthony Joseph, Anthony, Nicole, Thomas and Gabriella.  Dearest brother of Angelo and his wife Giovanna of Brooklyn.  Also survived by many loving nieces and nephews.

Tony retired from the International Laborers Union Local 79 in NYC.

Besides his love of family, especially his grandchildren, Tony enjoyed making wine and tomato sauce as well as spending time outdoors tending his garden and his fig trees.  He will be dearly missed.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Wednesday 10:00 AM at St. Anthony’s RC Church, Northvale with entombment to follow at Garden of Memories, Washington Twp.  Visiting hours are Monday 6-9 PM and Tuesday 2-4 and 7-9 PM at Pizzi Funeral Home, 120 Paris Avenue, Northvale (201-767-3050).

Those who wish may make memorial donations to the Northvale Volunteer Ambulance Corps, 196 Firenze Street, Northvale, NJ  07647.

www.pizzifuneralhome.com

Eileen N. Rapp

Eileen N. Rapp, 74, of Old Tappan, passed away on Monday, February 16, 2015.  Beloved wife of Charles G. Rapp, III.  Loving mother of Charles G. Rapp, IV and his wife Wendy of Austin, TX and Karen Hampton and her husband Kerry of Old Tappan.  Adored grandmother of C.G, Stephen, Michael, Brittney, Shannon and Cameron.  Dearest sister of Niels Nielsen and his wife Kelly of Rocky River, OH.

Eileen first met her husband Charles when both worked at ABCTV, he as an engineering supervisor and she as a censor.  Charles travelled extensively for ABC, and after they were married Eileen often accompanied him, covering such events as the Olympics, Kentucky Derby, Preakness, NBA Basketball, Monday Night Football, presidential inaugurations, and many other events.

Eileen loved bright, spring colors, in spirit of that, her family requests bright colors be worn to celebrate Eileen’s life.

A Memorial Service will be held Sunday, February 22 at 2:00 PM at the Trinity Reformed Church, 292 Old Tappan Road, Old Tappan with a repast to follow at the family home.  Arrangements by Pizzi Funeral Home, Northvale.

www.pizzifuneralhome.com

Triny McLeester

Triny McLeester (nee Naranjo), of Westfield, formerly of Northvale, passed away on Monday, February 16, 2015.  Beloved wife of the late Robert.  Cherished mother of Kenneth and his wife Debra of Clark and Douglas and his wife Carmen of Flemington.  Adored grandmother of Alec and Luke.  Dearest sister of Fabio, Nestor and Alicia Lutkens.

Triny was an active parishioner of St. Anthony’s RC Church, Northvale, where she was a member of the choir, the Rosary Altar Society and the Parish Council.  She also volunteered her time at the Pascack Valley Hospital Auxiliary.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Friday 10:00 AM at St. Anthony’s with interment to follow at George Washington Memorial Park, Paramus.  Visiting hours are Thursday 2-4 and 7-9 PM at Pizzi Funeral Home, 120 Paris Avenue, Northvale.

www.pizzifuneralhome.com

Fred W. Smith

Fred W. Smith, 86, of Twp. of Washington, formerly of Old Tappan, passed away on Friday, February 13, 2015.  Beloved husband of Joanna (nee Weaver).  Loving father of Colleen Settineri and her companion Rick Muller of Old Tappan, Frederick and his wife Theresa of Hillsdale, Kerri Ann Davies and her companion Gary Smith of Salisbury Mills, NY and Russell of Hillsdale.  Cherished grandfather of nine and great-grandfather of three.

Fred was a US Air Force Veteran of the Korean War.  Before retiring he was a commercial photographer.  He was a member of the Lions Club where he was past president and was head of the recreation and golf commissions, all in Old Tappan.  Besides his love of family, Fred was a diehard fan of the NY Yankees and St. John’s Basketball.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Tuesday 11:00 AM at St. Pius X RC Church, Old Tappan with interment to follow at Maryrest Cemetery, Mahwah.  Visiting hours are Monday 2-4 and 7-9 PM at Pizzi Funeral Home, 120 Paris Ave, Northvale (201-767-3050).

www.pizzifuneralhome.com

Felicia E. Geraldi

Felicia Emily Pawlowski Geraldi was born on Wednesday, August 24, 1932 in Manhattan under the Zodiac sign of Virgo to Margaret Renaut Pawlowski, a statistician for the Lerner Shops and Frances Ludwig Pawlowski, a foreman with Con Edison.  Felicia has a younger brother, Frank.

Felicia studied interior decorating in High School, then attended the Fashion Institute of Technology where she studied textile design and earned the first of three academic degrees.

On September 27, 1952 Felicia married Charles T. Geraldi, Jr. in St. Joseph’s Church, Brooklyn.  She is the proud mother of two children, Charles Francis and Susan Mary Francomano and grandmother to four: Kristen Marie, Joseph Troy, Charles Francis, Jr. and Christopher Robert.  After raising the children her interest in art education was renewed and she taught at Our Lady of Sacred Heart Church School in Tappan.  She earned a Baccalaureate at St.  Thomas Aquinas College and a Master of Fine Art at the College of New Rochelle.

Felicia joined the facility of the Clarkstown School District where she taught for 24 years, with 12 years as Elementary Art Chairperson, until retiring in 1998 when she became a world traveler with visits to China and the many religious and art centers of Europe.  In 1990 she was named the Disney Television Channel American Teacher awardee for Visual Art.

Felicia so loved teaching art at the elementary level that, after retiring, she became a substitute teacher at the South Orangetown School District.  She often said that her greatest joy in teaching was to have one of her students say to her “Mrs. G, I can do it!”

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Tuesday 10:00 AM at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart RC Church, Tappan with interment to follow at Rockland Cemetery, Sparkill.  Visiting hours are Monday 2-4 and 7-9 PM at Pizzi Funeral, 120 Paris Avenue, Northvale, NJ (201-767-3050).

In lieu of flowers, donations to Children of Promise Stables, PO Box 656, Nanuet, NY 10954, www.copsbarn.org, would be greatly appreciated.

www.pizzifuneralhome.com

Mickey Reeves

Mickey (Michael David) Reeves, age 16, passed away February 11th surrounded in love by his family. Mickey was born on May 5, 1998 in Suffern, NY. Mickey is survived by his loving parents, Anne and Joe, his brothers Conor and Tommy, grandparents Rose and Jerry Murphy, and Dolores and Tom Reeves, many Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and extended family and friends. Mickey was a warrior on earth and is our angel in heaven. Mickey will forever be remembered for his strength, determination, and courage that will give his family and friends the strength needed to endure our tremendous loss. Mickey proved to everyone who knew him and even those who didn’t what toughness really is.  Mickey worked hard and studied hard. He loved his family, friends, and was an avid sports fan who loved Syracuse Orange Men, the NY Yankees, NY Jets and playing golf. Mickey was a professional “gypsy catcher”. He lived his life with honor and dignity and is a role model to us all. Booyah!

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Monday 9:30 AM at St. Catharine’s RC Church, Blauvelt with interment to follow at Rockland Cemetery, Sparkill. Visiting hours are Sunday 2-9 PM at Pizzi Funeral Home, 120 Paris Avenue, Northvale.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the following: The Carolyn Sullivan Fund, The Penguin Plunge, and The Tappan Fire House Welfare Fund.

www.pizzifuneralhome.com

Walter K. Prucnel

Walter K. Prucnel, 75, of Norwood, went home to the Lord on Sunday, February 8, 2015.  Beloved husband of Dee (nee Carcich).  Devoted father of Peter and his partner Paul Colacchio of Long Beach, CA, Patricia of Stony Point, NY and Paul and his wife Tonya of Park Ridge. Loving brother of Barbara Bellino and her husband Frank of Palisades Park and uncle of Karen and Doug Helmstedder and Elaine and Michael Samman. Walter will be dearly missed by his family and also his cats, Romeo, Cupid and Probie; his grandcats, Rascal, Elsa, Berkeley and Pumpkin and his grandparakeet, Stormy.  He was predeceased by his parents, Agnes and Rudy and his beloved granddogs, Mary and Joseph and his grandcats, Tomcat and Jerryberry.

Walter was a parishioner of Immaculate Conception Church, Norwood, and was devoted to Immaculate Conception/Holy Family Schools, working bingo and the carnival faithfully for many years.  Walter was a US Army veteran.  He owned and operated Charger Mate, a company specializing in industrial and automotive batteries and chargers. After retiring, his hobby was writing and he published five books, of which he was very proud.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Friday 10:00 AM at Immaculate Conception RC Church, Norwood with entombment in Gate of Heaven, East Hanover, NJ.  Visitation is Thursday 2-4 and 7-9 PM at Pizzi Funeral Home, 120 Paris Ave, Northvale (201-767-3050).

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to Animal Life Savers, PO Box 12, Palisades Park, NJ 07650 would be greatly appreciated.

www.pizzifuneralhome.com

Barbara Pischera

Barbara Pischera (nee Griffiths), 66, of Orangeburg, passed away on Sunday, February 8, 2015.  Beloved wife of Louis.  Devoted mother of Gina Pischera of Yonkers and Dana Mancilla and her husband Simon of Yonkers.  Dearest sister of John Piccininni of Saddle River, NJ, Richard and Nadine Piccininni of West Nyack and the late William Griffiths, Robert Griffiths and Nicholas Piccininni.  Also survived by many loving nieces, nephews, relatives and dear friends.

For those who were lucky enough to know Barbara can all agree she was truly one of a kind.

The family will receive friends Thursday and Friday 2-4 & 7-9 PM at Pizzi Funeral Home, 120 Paris Avenue, Northvale.  A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday 10:00 AM at St. Catharine’s RC Church, Blauvelt with entombment to follow at St. Anthony’s Mausoleum, Nanuet.

Memorial donations to the American Heart Association, www.americanheart.org, would be greatly appreciated.

www.pizzifuneralhome.com

Lawrence S. Craven

Lawrence Stephen Craven, 68, of Northvale, NJ passed away on February 7th following a valiant battle with cancer.

Beloved husband of 42 years of Mary Beth Craven, devoted father to Stephen and wife Jennifer of Tinton Falls, NJ and Patrick and wife Casey of Moorestown, NJ, and loving grandfather to Clara (5), Dexter (3), Fiona (2) and Kodiak (1).  Larry is also survived by his sister Christine, his brothers-in-law Daniel and wife Peggy Judge and Steve Judge, 10 dear nieces and nephews, his aunt Clare Craven and many cousins.

He was predeceased by his parents, Lawrence and Evelyn Craven.

Larry was a graduate of Blair Academy and St. Peter’s College.  He spent his career working in Employee Benefits at Kwasha-Lipton, Becton Dickinson and MetLife.  After retiring, Larry became an EMT and joined the Northvale Volunteer Ambulance Corps, where he served terms as President and Captain, among others.  He was also the treasurer of the Genealogical Society of Bergen County.  Previously he served on the Board of Trustees of the James F. McGuire Senior Citizen Center and the Academic Decathlon.  He had been involved in Boy Scouts and was Soccer director and coach for soccer and baseball teams.  He was an active parishioner of St. Anthony’s Church in Northvale and was a Eucharistic Minister there.

He enjoyed travel, especially many genealogy-based trips to find his and his wife’s family ancestry.  He loved the Berkshires which he visited annually, especially for the classical music at Tanglewood.  He also loved to golf and watch birds.  He relished his role as a grandfather and his grandkids were crazy about him and will miss him very much.

Viewing will be Wednesday, February 11th at Pizzi Funeral Home located at 120 Paris Avenue, Northvale at 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm.  The Funeral Mass celebrating his life will be held at St. Anthony’s Church in Northvale, NJ, Thursday, February 12th at 11 AM.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Massachusetts Audubon Berkshire Sanctuaries and the Northvale Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

www.pizzifuneralhome.com