Philip Joseph Avella, Sr.

Philip Joseph Avella, Sr., age 78, of Wayne, New Jersey, formally of Brooklyn, New York, passed away on December 23, 2020.

Philip was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 29, 1942. He was the son of Katherine Mainella Avella and Samuel Michael Avella.  He was educated in Brooklyn, New York, and attended Franklin K. Lane High School and Pace University.

Philip spent most of his life working on Wall Street for several different firms in his career as a bond trader. He continued to enjoy the stock market in his retirement and followed the market as a hobby. He and his cousin Warren Mainella owned a Gun Shop, Gunslingers, in Long Island for many years. He relocated to Utica, New York where he spent several years in the retail industry and worked with his sister in their event planning company, By Invitation Only.  His later years were spent in Hampton Bays with family and he worked with them at Ricky’s Plumbing before retiring to New Jersey to be closer to his sons and grandchildren.

He was an accomplished pianist and had an incredible musical ear and could play anything without reading the sheet music. He was an accomplished songwriter having written several songs on his own, and some in collaboration with his mother. As a young man he was part of a musical group called the Jo-Vals along with his cousin Ronny DaBruzzo, Joe Mancuso, and John Ferrara. They recorded several songs on the Laurie Record Label.   Phil was an avid fisherman and he loved to go clamming and crabbing having spent most of his summers in Bayville, Long Island on the water. He enjoyed spending time on his uncle’s boat, “The Rebel” chumming for blue fish at Buoy 19 and at Mattituck point looking for striped bass with his father, uncles, and cousins.  He was an avid skeet shooter along with his partner-in-crime, his cousin Nick “Banging Birds” Sanito.

He loved to garden and plant his tomatoes and was an excellent cook. His dry sense of humor and his wit were legend. But among all his accomplishments, his greatest accomplishment was being both a father and mother to his two young sons raising them with the help of his parents when they were young and then by himself into adolescence and adulthood. He was a tremendous role model for his sons on what a father should be. He was most proud of the young men that they grew up to become. His life was his sons, and then his grandchildren. He treasured the times he spent cooking and baking with his grandchildren and passing along all the traditions of his Italian heritage, our family heritage and recipes such as making breadsticks and eggnog with his grandchildren. He savored every one of those moments and was so proud, often sending pictures to share those moment with the rest of the family.

Philip served his country as a member of The National Guard of New York and was right there during the country’s postal strike, out delivering the mail. He was a true patriot and loved his country.

Philip was predeceased by his parents, Samuel and Katherine Avella and his loving Aunt Josephine (Fifi) Mainella, his Uncle Frank and Aunt Edith Mainella, Uncle Pat and Jean Mainella, Aunts Julia Silvestri, Frances Moreira, Mary Caccavale, Jennie and Uncle Ralph Tarantino, and Mae and Flo Avella, and his loving sister-in-law Thirza Castro Avella.

He is survived by his sons Michael J. Avella and his wife Sherry Posey Avella, and Philip J. Avella, Jr. and his wife Sharon Vega Avella, and four grandchildren, Daniella, Adrian, Kaden and Joseph Avella. He is survived by his brother Joseph Avella, and his sister and brother-in-law, Dr. Marc and Elise Avella Feiner, his nieces and nephews, Dr. Jeffrey M. Feiner, Steven and JoAnna Corso Feiner, Dr. David (his loving godson) and Courtney Mulvey Feiner, Lauren Feiner Asensio and Alfredo Asensio, Melissa Avella, Douglas Avella (his godson), and several great-nephews, Julian, Maxwell, and Jacob Feiner, Oliver Asensio Feiner, and Kahlil and Camilo Avella.

He is survived by his loving Goddaughter Julie Ann (DiPierdomenico) and Jerry Sapio, Joey and Jonathan Sapio, and the DiPierdomenico family, and many loving cousins, and three cousins to whom he was more like a brother than a cousin, Mary Ann and Michele Maida, and Toni Mollico, and several close friends including the Mercurio Clan, Fran and Norm Zierler, and Rae and Steve Rosenfeld. He really enjoyed Facebook because it allowed him to talk (and opine in many cases,) with many of his cousins and reconnect with them on a daily basis, The Silvestri, Saracino, Youngs, Calabreses, Franks, Caccavales, Arcaras, Grimaldis, Sanitos, Vennans, Mainellas, Barones, D’Amicos, Anselmos, and all the other extended cousins. He loved his time in Florida and spending time with Joseph Silvestri, Joanne and Carl Fsadni, and Sophia and Danny Duran, it was like being back in Huntington again, for him, a place he held near and dear.

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation in Philip’s memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memorial Processing, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959, or online at www.stjude.org.