Antonina L. Gattuso

Antonina “Lena” Gattuso passed away peacefully at home in Spring, TX on July 3rd, 2021. She was surrounded by her remaining immediate family composed of her grandson Russell, his wife Irene, and Antonina’s 3 great-grandchildren Alejandro, Anais, and Santiago. She is preceded in death by both her husband Jimmy, and daughter Rosemary. Please do not worry or show concern for her. This passing was nothing short of a storybook ending on an amazing life with a heart of gold.

Thinking back on her history, it is hard to pack almost 102 years of lifetime experiences into a few paragraphs. Lena as she was called, was born in Glassboro, NJ on August 4, 1919 to her parents Pietro and Carmella Brigandi. She was raised with four siblings, Millie, Joseph, John, and Peter. She loved her family deeply and carried this into her adult life to include her ever expanding Italian family. If your name ended with Brigandi, Gattuso, Consalo, or Bifulco or you are married to someone from these families, just know that you practically walked on water in Grandmom’s eyes. She never showed any favorites and loved everyone equally at a level that is hard to comprehend for one person to show so much care and compassion.

In her early life, Lena excelled at school and was promoted one grade forward which she was very proud of. Unfortunately, she was pulled from school at the age of 14 to go work so she could help support the family. She went to work in a local business where she became a profession seamstress. She loved nothing more than “dressing smart” and “staying current” with the latest styles! Later in life, she would return to school and earn her GED which she was also very proud of because she earned all A’s. As a result of this experience, she became a very big “advocate for education” and always supported everyone’s goals of going to school to earn their high school diploma or any kind of advanced degree. She embedded “education first” to all her grandchildren. She even went as far as teaching her youngest great-grandchild how to read and studied with him for countless hours. As a side note, she also wore the pants in the relationship… She controlled all the money for bills and was able to pay off their house in 8 short years. She was extremely proud of this accomplishment.

Just after World War II, Lena would meet her “Dearest Sweetheart”, James (Jimmy) Gattuso. They met at a community dance in Camden, NJ and dated for only 3 months before getting married. The two of them would stay married until Jimmy’s death in November of 2004. During their marriage, they were the typical Italian couple of their time. They were very passionate about family and friends, loved to cook, had an excellent work ethic, and would also have the occasional argument in Italian that the entire neighborhood listened to. In 1951, they adopted their daughter Rosemary from Catholic Ministries in Camden NJ. Being fully devoted to family, they showered her with love and attention and provided an excellent life for her. In all, Lena would raise 3 generations of family members…her daughter, grandson, and 3 great-grandchildren. She was truly blessed and full of life.

Lena was a devout Catholic and dedicated her life to the church and Jesus Christ. She was a parishioner of St. John’s Catholic Church in Collingswood, NJ for over 66 years. There were very few masses that she missed in her time at this church, and even more that she would attend during the week and at special events. One of her favorite things to do in her spare time was write letters back and forth with the Carmelite Nuns to pray over things like family and current events. She also passed this faith down to her daughter Rosemary, grandson Russell, and 3 great-grandchildren Alejandro, Anais, and Santiago. She signed up every one of us for Sunday School which allowed us to earn communion and be closer to God. Lena also belonged to a group of neighborhood friends who would get together each month at a different location and pray the rosary. She did this for years and only stopped once she moved to Texas to be with her family. A couple days before her passing, Friar K. from the local church visited the house to anoint and bless her. The smile she had on her face when she opened her eyes and saw him was spectacular. On her last day, she prayed the rosary with her family, and read from the Bible. When Jimmy, her husband passed away, she mentioned all she could think about was how beautiful it must have been for him to be entering the gates of heaven. As she slipped away in front of us, the smile on her face assured us of just how beautiful it is.

On the lighter side of life, Antonina was also a lot of fun. Having many nieces and nephews, she loved showering them with love and “Crispies”. These were dollar bills she kept between the mattress and box spring in her room to flatten them out. She also loved to cook Pizzelles and distribute them to multiple family members and friends during the holidays. This special recipe she shared with her grandchildren and she loved to teach each one of them how to cook the tasty treats. Like most Italian grandmothers, her spaghetti and sauce were to die for and despite asking her many times through the years for her recipe, I never received an exact formula or managed to replicate her flavor. It was always “a little bit of this…a little bit of that.” Lastly, for some odd reason, every hamburger she ever cooked tasted exactly like a meatball.

Grandmom was always more about ironing, balancing her checkbook, and reading the paper than she was about watching TV. However, she would visit the front porch of the house frequently and Jimmy could often be heard saying “Lena, can you please be quiet? I am watching a show!” However, she would stop and pay attention to 3 different programs… Her favorite movie was The Godfather and in recent years she took a liking to The Office (The US Version). Lastly, she liked watching Mixed Martial Arts and had quite a crush on the announcer Bruce Buffer…in her words “he is a good-looking man” and she kept a close eye on all of his jackets.

In recent years, through living with her family in Texas, she started expanding her culinary horizons a good bit. Growing up, I can remember going to eat at various diners and restaurants and all she would order was toast and coffee. Introducing her to steak houses, fast food, and even Chinese was quite a challenge. One of her favorite spots was What-A-Burger in Texas. She would still order her burger with only a bun and patty, but this was what we called progress! Grandmom looked forward to going on long car rides with her great Granddaughter Ani, who would take her everywhere. She loved eating her fries and singing along to her favorite songs all through Spring Tx. She did so all with a smile. When the car would stop, she’d wonder why and ask to keep driving or go get Starbuck’s because she wasn’t ready to go home yet. They were great girlfriends.

There is so much more to write, and if I wanted to, I could be here for a couple days easily. Grandmom Lena, Aunt Lena, Antonina, Lena Bean, Babe, or however you referred to her, was an excellent person with a heart as big as the moon. She cherished her family and friends, loved the Lord, and approached every day with an optimistic outlook that would make most motivational speakers envious. She had a warm smile that was welcoming, and never turned away a family member or friend in need. She truly cared about all the people in her life. The world was a better place because of Lena and her effect on the lives she touched is unmistakable and everlasting. In the last few years of her life, she led us to believe that we were the ones taking care of her. When in hind-site, it was she who was caring of us.

If available, please join us on Saturday July 10th, 2021 for Lena's Celebration of Life Service

Location will be:

Forest Park The Woodlands

Funeral Home and Cemetery

I-45 South

The Woodlands, TX 77384

Viewing will start at 10am thru 12pm CST

Service will start at 12pm

Burial will take place at 1pm

There will be an online link to the memorial service on the Forest Park Funeral Home website. You can view the service starting at 12pm CST. For those who might miss the live service, there will also be a video on the site for viewing at a later time.