Lena Basile

Lena Basile (nee Ingenito), age 97 of Clifton, died peacefully at home on Thursday, June 16, 2022. She had lived in Clifton for seventy years.

Lena grew up in Lodi, the daughter of Michael Ingenito, who had emigrated from Sarno near Naples, and Grace Siano, who was born in the states but whose family had also emigrated from Naples.   She was the second oldest of seven children and the oldest daughter, and from her teenage years on she helped her mother raise her five younger siblings. Although the family was not wealthy, Lena had a happy childhood and spoke fondly of the time. She remained close with all of her siblings through the years and spoke with her sisters on the phone nearly every day.

She began working at the Marcal Paper Plant in East Paterson, in the packaging department.  At Marcal she met her husband, James Basile.  They were married on April 27, 1947, at St. Joseph RC Church in Lodi and honeymooned at Niagara Falls, NY.  Lena left Marcal to become a full-time homemaker, cooking and caring for her husband and daughter Marie.

Lena was a naturally gifted cook. Her meals were superb, and she could recreate any dish she saw on TV from memory. She always enjoyed baking for the holidays. Lena shared her love through the food she made for others, and nothing made her more happy than to see her big family enjoying a good meal together.

Lena was a strong woman. When her husband died, after sixty-seven years of marriage, she ably managed the household on her own.  Her strength and fortitude have always been admired by her daughter, her three granddaughters, and her five great-grandchildren.

Lena is survived by her daughter, Marie McKenna and her husband Timothy of Wayne; three granddaughters: Emily McKenna and her husband John Kennedy of Vermont, Claire McKenna of Cambridge, MA, and Margaret Weil and her husband Matthew of St. Louis, MO; and five great-grandchildren: Lena, Giuseppe, Colin, Caleb, and Anna; two sisters: Marie Marakovitz of Lodi and Helen Fatuova of Garfield; and many nieces and nephews.  Her husband James died in June 2014.