Ruth Mastrogiovanni

Ruth Mastrogiovanni (nee Gremmler), age 90, of Leesburg, Florida and Wayne, New Jersey and formerly of the Poconos, Fair Lawn and Paterson, passed away on Sunday, February 2, 2020.

Ruth was born and raised in the Riverside Section of Paterson where she attended Paterson’s School 21 and Eastside High School.

In the neighborhood where Ruth grew up, she met and fell in love with Edward Mastrogiovanni. Ed and Ruth exchanged their vows on Sunday, February 23, 1947 at St. Paul’s Evangelical Church in Paterson.

After a honeymoon in Niagara Falls, Ruth and Ed began a cherished life as husband and wife in their first home together, an apartment in Paterson. Ruth was just eighteen years old at this point in her life. One year later, she and Ed welcomed their first child – a baby girl they named Sheryl. Three years after that, their second daughter, Linda, was born.  Ruth was an amazing mother who poured all her love into raising Sheryl and Linda while also working as a seamstress for many years in Paterson textile mills, which were so prevalent during that era. When her daughters were grown, she worked for a time at Dial-A-Phone Answering Service in Ridgewood.  Sadly, in 1974, their Linda died; there is no greater tragedy in life than this loss.

After years of living in Paterson, Ruth and Ed moved to Fair Lawn where they remained until retiring to homes in Tannersville in the Poconos and Leesburg, Florida.  Eventually the Poconos home was sold and Ruth and Ed spent summers with Sheryl and the family in Wayne.

Ruth and Ed were blessed with many wonderful retirement years. In addition to their close friends at home in New Jersey, they developed new friendships in both the Poconos and Florida; they enjoyed vacations to various destinations such as Hawaii, Alaska, and Europe, and doing all kinds of things including going out for frequent dinners. Ruth loved to play Majong and cards and maintained an active lifestyle by taking walks and riding her three-wheeler bike in Florida while Ed enjoyed visiting the Carpenter Shop to spend time with friends.

Above all else, Ruth’s greatest joy and satisfaction came from quality time spent with her family. She adored them and the feeling was mutual. Utilizing her amazing seamstress skills, when her own daughters were growing up, Ruth made all of their clothing as well as her own, including dresses, prom gowns, and coats. Everything she made was done with patience and perfection. When the blessing of grandchildren and great-grandchildren filled her life, she blessed them all right back by handcrafting knitted, crocheted or sewn baby blankets, hats, scarves, gloves and mittens. It was also the intangibles of Ruth’s life that touched her family’s hearts, like her patient, pleasant and calm spirit.

Ruth was the most beloved and devoted wife of Edward, blessed in marriage for 71 years until his passing in 2018. She was the dearly loved mother of Sheryl and husband Richard P. Centrelli of Wayne, and the late Linda Mastrogiovanni-Breitstein who passed away in 1974; adored grandmother of Lynn McTeague and husband George, and Kristy Fernand; cherished great-grandmother of Isabella Fernand, Ryan McTeague, Alexandra Fernand, and Connor McTeague; dear sister of the late Edith Bariou; and loved aunt of numerous nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews.          

In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Ruth Mastrogiovanni’s memory to support MSK.  Checks, made payable to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, should be mailed to:

Memorial Sloan Kettering Office of Development

Attn: (Elliott Pollock)

PO Box 27106

New York, NY 10087