Pietro “Peter” De Novellis, age 79, of Wayne, passed away peacefully on Sunday, September 30, 2018.

Peter was born and raised in Alberobello which means “Beautiful Tree” – a province of Bari, Italy. As a teenager he learned the furniture making trade and in his early twenties he moved to the northern part of the country to Novara, Italy. He later moved to Switzerland in search of work and, while there, Peter developed an interest in cooking which he would turn into a life-long passion and career.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Peter’s uncle was finding success in the restaurant business as owner of Colucci’s Ristorante in Haledon. Needing help in his growing business, Peter’s uncle asked him to come work with him. This was Peter’s initial entry into his new life in the United States. He worked with his uncle as a chef for a few years before opening his own pizzeria and restaurant in Lincoln Park. After selling the business in Lincoln Park, he joined another uncle who had taken over the Piedmont Restaurant – a historic Italian eatery which originally was a boarding house for Italian citizens that moved to America and worked in the Paterson silk mills in the late 1800’s. The restaurant was named after immigrants who came from the Piedmont region of Italy and it was located on Barbour Street in Haledon.

During the time Peter was working at the Piedmont Restaurant, he met his future wife, Lina – an Italian immigrant herself who was living with her family in the Bronx, NY. Shortly after getting married, they moved to Wayne and welcomed a baby boy who they named Leonardo “Lenny”.  Peter continued working at the Piedmont Restaurant for a few years until he eventually sold it and went to work as a chef at the Italian Circle Club in Paterson. He missed being his own boss so when the opportunity arose, he opened his last restaurant – Leonardo’s Restaurant in the Mountain View section of Wayne. Throughout his entire career and numerous endeavors as a chef and restaurant owner, Peter always did his best to give his customers the highest level of service he possibly could. The hours were long and included all weekends and most holidays but, to Peter, the customer was king. If it was closing time and a group came in, he’d often stay open if asked. He made many friends along the way and enjoyed the visits to his kitchen by patrons.

Many nights, after working late into the evening, Peter would come home and, to unwind before going to sleep, he’d catch a good western on television. Bonanza, Gun Smoke, and any western movie with John Wayne or Clint Eastwood were his favorites. He enjoyed vacations in Florida with family and friends. In more recent years, Peter also took a liking to testing his good fortune with lady luck at casinos in Atlantic City as well as the Mount Airy Casino and Resort in Pennsylvania.

Peter was a loving man and hard worker who enjoyed the company of everyone – family, friends, and people he would meet along life’s pathway. In his retirement, he enjoyed taking long walks in his neighborhood, striking up conversations along the way with familiar folks as well as total strangers.    

Peter was the beloved husband of Lina, blessed in marriage for 42 years. He was the loving father of Lenny of Wayne; dear brother of Anna of Fair Lawn; and dear uncle of three nieces and two nephews. Peter was predeceased by his sister Maria and his two brothers-in-law.