Rose Marie Joy Fiorello

Rose Marie Fiorello, age 84, passed away peacefully on September 3, 2022 at home surrounded by family.
 
Rose Marie was born to Joseph and Dorothy (Irving) Lynch on May 17, 1938 at Fordham Hospital in Bronx, NY.  She was the fourth child, with older siblings Dorothy, Virginia, and Joseph, and younger siblings Ellen and Noreen.  Her mom nicknamed her Joy when she was young after seeing an advertisement that starred Rosemarie the Cow.  Sadly, Joy lost her mom to kidney disease at the age of 11 years old.
 
Joy graduated from Jane Adams Vocational High School in 1952 where she focused on clothing design. Her projects earned her a scholarship to FIT; however, she decided to decline the opportunity and work to help provide for the family.  Her brother Joe started a social club in the Bronx with some friends and that is where she met Peter Fiorello.  Peter and Joy married on Oct 27, 1957.  They lived in the Bronx and then moved to Yonkers, NY.   
 
Almost six years to the day, she gave birth to Patricia Ann on October 26, 1963.  She later gave birth to Peter on November 13, 1967.  To support their growing family, they bought a new house in Hawthorne, NY, and installed a pool.  That pool came in handy when Joy was pregnant during the summer of 1972.  The Fiorello family welcomed Roxanne Marie into the family on July 17, 1972.  Joy was a supportive mother who taught her children that you can learn and do anything that you want to do, and she gave her children countless opportunities to do so. 
 
As her children got older and went to school, Joy went with them – working in the cafeteria in two of the schools.  She then went to work at Friendly’s Restaurant in town where she took exceptional care of her customers.  One perk of her working at Friendly’s was the ice cream!
 
Joy’s eldest child, Patricia, married John Partelow in 1985 and gave her two grandchildren – Michael and Mackenzie. After years of service at Friendly’s, Grandma Joy decided it would be more fun to spend time with her grandchildren and take care of them while Pati and John went to work. Grandma Joy spoiled Michael and Mackenzie rotten, especially with her cooking. Their friends at school would try to steal the gourmet lunches that Grandma Joy prepared for them. Grandma Joy also loved to do arts & crafts projects with her grandkids – from painting to science projects and everything in between.

In 2012, Joy and her husband, Peter, decided shoveling snow was highly overrated and moved to sunny Fort Myers, FL to join their children, Peter and Roxanne. In 2014, Roxanne welcomed her fur baby, Maxwell, who quickly became Joy’s best friend. In 2017, Peter married Regina Riley and added two grandchildren, Jessica and Anthony, and two great-grandchildren, Joseph and Thomas, to the family.
 
Joy’s grandson, Michael, married Gabriella Navia in 2018. They later gave Grandma Joy a great-grandson, Wyatt, in 2021. Thanks to modern technology, Wyatt and Grandma Joy spent many mornings eating breakfast together over FaceTime – a time she truly cherished.

Joy was loved by so many. We will miss the strength of her courage, the contagious energy from her zest for life, and the warmth of her love. We are comforted in knowing she is joined in heaven by her husband, Peter, siblings (Dorothy, Virginia, Joseph, and Noreen), and the lord.

Click here to view a webcast of the service on 9/10/2022 at 12:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time.

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.