Joseph Federico

Joseph Federico, Joe to his friends and family, passed away on May 24, 2024, following a brief illness.

Joe was the epitome of the American dream. As a young boy, he emigrated to the U.S. with his parents and two sisters from a small mountain town in Sicily, Petralia Soprana. The family resided on the Lower East side of Manhattan and he and his sisters embraced all things American.

While still just a child, he met the love of his life, Mary Benedetto, who became his bride in 1964, when he was 22 and she was 23. The couple began their married life in a surprisingly large apartment in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn.

While he intended to complete his college education after marriage, fate had other plans for him in the form of their first child, Lillian, who arrived in September 1965. Shortly thereafter, he gave up his dream of college to spend more time with his newborn daughter.

Times were not always easy for Joe, who was working in the financial industry, and Mary, who they decided would be a full-time mom, and they worked hard to make a better life for their small family.

They soon saved enough money to buy a home in Ozone Park, Queens, just before the arrival of their second child, Leonard (Len) in January 1970. Soon thereafter, Joe began his career at the New York State Banking Department, where he found his niche.

The family spent many happy years (both Joe and Mary would say some of the best of their lives) in Ozone Park, raising their children among loving family and friends who felt like family. They made a home where their children, their nieces and nephews, and their friends all felt welcome, came to hang out, and were treated like family.

Joe also loved spending time with his children, taking Lillian on “dates” to Saturday matinee double features, teaching them both to play baseball, and assistant coaching Len’s Little League teams. A highlight during this time was a three-week trip to Hong Kong and Japan that they never forgot.

Joe and Mary moved to Old Bridge, New Jersey in 1993, where they lived until both passed. Joe retired in 1999 to care for Mary, as she battled kidney disease, went through a transplant and later a stroke.

But there were still things to be thankful for in those years – Len married the love of his life, Janell, in 2006 in a beautiful destination wedding in St. Martin. The following year, Joe was over the moon when they gifted him with his first grandchild, Grace. She was immediately the apple of his eye. He was no less ecstatic to welcome his second granddaughter, Sadie, in 2014, and he was no less besotted with her.

After Mary passed in 2019, Joe used the few scant years he had left to reconnect with family and friends and was overjoyed in 2022, when his children and grandchildren took him to visit his birthplace, where he was able to see relatives he had not seen since he left Sicily as a boy.

He spent many weekends just hanging out with Lillian and her life partner, Bruce Stepnowski, and took several trips to Houston to see Len and his family, even partaking in Rodeo festivities.

He lived an independent life until falling and breaking his leg in early May and receiving a devastating cancer diagnosis. And, while he left us all too soon, it is the way he wanted it. Joe is back with the love of his life and his love will always be with those of us he left behind.

He will be sorely missed by not just Lillian, Len, Bruce, Janell, Grace, and Sadie, but also his beloved sister Connie Tardi, brother-in-law Edward Saparata, a host of nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews, and the group of former young people who grew up thinking of him as a second dad.

In addition to his wife Mary, Joe was predeceased by his parents, Leonardo and Pasqua Federico (nee Spitale), his sister Vickie Saparata and brother-in- law Ralph Tardi.

A visitation for relatives and friends will take place on Saturday, June 1, 2024, from 2:00-5:00 PM at the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ. Parking can be found to the rear of the building. After the gathering, folks are invited to a repast at Lillian’s home for food and fellowship. There are no public services scheduled. Interment will be private.

For those who wish to commemorate Joe’s life, in lieu of flowers, please consider donating to one to one of his favorite charities:

Disabled American Veterans, ATTN: GIFT PROCESSING PO Box 14301 Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301

https://www.dav.org/ways-to-give/donate-online-by-mail-or-by-phone/

Paralyzed Veterans of America, PVA: Donation Processing Center, P.O. Box 758589, Topeka, KS, 66675-8589

https://pva.org/contact-us/

The American Kidney Fund, 11921 Rockville Pike, Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20852

https://www.kidneyfund.org/ways-give

Cremation services and arrangements are under the direction of the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ 08822. For further information or to send an online condolence, please visit Joe’s Tribute Wall at www.holcombefisher.com.