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May 22, 2010
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 8:30 AM on Wednesday, May 26 from the funeral home, then to Our Lady of the Valley RC Church, Wayne, where at 9:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered.
Felicita "Phyllis" Borzotta, 79, passed away on Saturday, May 22nd after a long battle with cancer.
Felicita was born in the northern Italian mountainous region of Trentino in the village of Montesover on January 10, 1931. While her mother, Julia, was pregnant with Felicita (which means "Happiness" in Italian) her husband, Felix, came to America but due to the Depression, the looming war and other factors he wasn't able to bring his family here until 1940. At age 9, Felicita immigrated to the US with her mother, Julia, and brother, Evo, where she finally met her father, Felix Andreatti. The trio were on the very last boat from Italy allowed into the US before the two countries became enemies. After a sometimes arduous three week journey, they arrived in NY but were briefly held up as customs thought the tin of chamomile tea they brought was marijuana! Finally, the family was reunited and they went to live in Atlas, PA, where Felix was working in the coal mines.
It was a difficult adjustment since they didn't speak English and had no relatives here. However, the small town lifestyle suited them and soon Felicita had another brother, Joseph. She graduated from Mt. Carmel Catholic High School in 1949. Prior to that she had begun correspondence with a young man from Clifton, NJ, name Anthony Borzotta who was in the army with brother Evo. Love blossomed and the two were married in May 1950 in NJ where the couple then lived. Both worked until they started a family . The first four children, Anthony, John, Kathleen, and Joseph were born in Clifton. In 1963 they moved to Wayne, NJ, and shortly thereafter their fifth child, Peter was born.
Felicita was probably best know for four things - her faith, her cooking, her quilts, and her generosity. Her cooking combined northern Italian, Sicilian and American cuisines with which she fed a family of seven and frequent guests - from relatives to college friends. It was a rare event to visit her home and leave without a full belly. Holidays, particularly Christmas Eve, revolved around food and family. She was equally adept in her sewing room where she created beautiful quilts and became a member of the Garden State Quilt Association and the Brownstone Quilters. Her quilts, which received numerous awards, grace the homes of many friends and relatives.
A lifelong devout Catholic, Felicita was a parishioner at Our Lady of the Valley Church for 47 years and was a member of the Adoration Society, Novena Group, helped at parish carnivals, and used her sewing skills to create a bereavement quilt and decorations for the church. She also worked at Eva's Kitchen in Paterson for many years. She and husband, Tony, who died in 2003, were supporters of the Mercy Home for Boys and Covenant House for decades, several St. Joseph charities, Operation Smile, and many others. They also were always ready to lend a helping hand to friends and relatives.
While battling cancer the past year, in her typically humble nature, Felicita expressed being overwhelmed and surprised by the outpouring of love and affection from so many people. When asked why she thought so many people cared for her, she said that throughout her life she never envied people, so she never really had negative feelings toward anyone. "Well, except once when we were in Clifton and we had the four kids, I did want a bigger house."
In 2000, Tony achieved his childhood dream of owning a farm and raising animals. He and Phyllis purchased a beautiful farm in White Township, NJ. Using his nickname for her he dubbed it, “Angel’s Acres.” Felicita is survived by son Anthony and wife Robin, son John and wife Barbara, daughter Kathleen and husband Richard Higgins, son Joseph, son Peter and his partner Jeff Barneson, and grandchildren Justin, Sean, Troy, Anthony, Alexandra and Zachary.
As expressions of sympathy, if friends so wish, donations may be made in Phyllis' memory to the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, 1140 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60607, or to Covenant House, Times Square Station, P.O. Box 731, New York, NY 10108-0900.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 8:30 AM on Wednesday, May 26 from the funeral home, then to Our Lady of the Valley RC Church, Wayne, where at 9:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered.
May 22, 2010
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 8:30 AM on Wednesday, May 26 from the funeral home, then to Our Lady of the Valley RC Church, Wayne, where at 9:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered.
Felicita "Phyllis" Borzotta, 79, passed away on Saturday, May 22nd after a long battle with cancer.
Felicita was born in the northern Italian mountainous region of Trentino in the village of Montesover on January 10, 1931. While her mother, Julia, was pregnant with Felicita (which means "Happiness" in Italian) her husband, Felix, came to America but due to the Depression, the looming war and other factors he wasn't able to bring his family here until 1940. At age 9, Felicita immigrated to the US with her mother, Julia, and brother, Evo, where she finally met her father, Felix Andreatti. The trio were on the very last boat from Italy allowed into the US before the two countries became enemies. After a sometimes arduous three week journey, they arrived in NY but were briefly held up as customs thought the tin of chamomile tea they brought was marijuana! Finally, the family was reunited and they went to live in Atlas, PA, where Felix was working in the coal mines.
It was a difficult adjustment since they didn't speak English and had no relatives here. However, the small town lifestyle suited them and soon Felicita had another brother, Joseph. She graduated from Mt. Carmel Catholic High School in 1949. Prior to that she had begun correspondence with a young man from Clifton, NJ, name Anthony Borzotta who was in the army with brother Evo. Love blossomed and the two were married in May 1950 in NJ where the couple then lived. Both worked until they started a family . The first four children, Anthony, John, Kathleen, and Joseph were born in Clifton. In 1963 they moved to Wayne, NJ, and shortly thereafter their fifth child, Peter was born.
Felicita was probably best know for four things - her faith, her cooking, her quilts, and her generosity. Her cooking combined northern Italian, Sicilian and American cuisines with which she fed a family of seven and frequent guests - from relatives to college friends. It was a rare event to visit her home and leave without a full belly. Holidays, particularly Christmas Eve, revolved around food and family. She was equally adept in her sewing room where she created beautiful quilts and became a member of the Garden State Quilt Association and the Brownstone Quilters. Her quilts, which received numerous awards, grace the homes of many friends and relatives.
A lifelong devout Catholic, Felicita was a parishioner at Our Lady of the Valley Church for 47 years and was a member of the Adoration Society, Novena Group, helped at parish carnivals, and used her sewing skills to create a bereavement quilt and decorations for the church. She also worked at Eva's Kitchen in Paterson for many years. She and husband, Tony, who died in 2003, were supporters of the Mercy Home for Boys and Covenant House for decades, several St. Joseph charities, Operation Smile, and many others. They also were always ready to lend a helping hand to friends and relatives.
While battling cancer the past year, in her typically humble nature, Felicita expressed being overwhelmed and surprised by the outpouring of love and affection from so many people. When asked why she thought so many people cared for her, she said that throughout her life she never envied people, so she never really had negative feelings toward anyone. "Well, except once when we were in Clifton and we had the four kids, I did want a bigger house."
In 2000, Tony achieved his childhood dream of owning a farm and raising animals. He and Phyllis purchased a beautiful farm in White Township, NJ. Using his nickname for her he dubbed it, “Angel’s Acres.” Felicita is survived by son Anthony and wife Robin, son John and wife Barbara, daughter Kathleen and husband Richard Higgins, son Joseph, son Peter and his partner Jeff Barneson, and grandchildren Justin, Sean, Troy, Anthony, Alexandra and Zachary.
As expressions of sympathy, if friends so wish, donations may be made in Phyllis' memory to the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, 1140 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60607, or to Covenant House, Times Square Station, P.O. Box 731, New York, NY 10108-0900.
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