On March 2, 2026, Maria Rosa Emanuele 97 years of age, passed away peacefully with family members by her side just as she wished. She now lives eternally in our hearts.

She was born on September 3, 1928 in Sperlinga, Sicily, the daughter of the late Domenico and Maria Grazia. She was preceded in death by her husband Giuseppe and five siblings, Maria, Michele, Battista, Giuseppe, and Francesco.

Survived by her three children, Giovanna (Graziano), Michael (Rose) and Dominic (Barbara); seven grandchildren Salvatore (Norma), Maria, Daniela (John), David, Joseph, Dominic (Nina) Grace (David); and nine Great Grandchildren Michela, Sean, Sonya, Giovanni, Joseph, Antonella, Bella, Dominic and Lennon.

In 1968 she immigrated to the United States with her husband and three children. She had aspirations of coming to America and reuniting with her two eldest siblings both of whom were born in the United States before her.

Her and husband worked tirelessly to build a new life and a brighter future for their children. Their lives centered around what she regarded to be the most important thing above all in life, family. And they did just that spawning generations after them. 

She had a passion and love of cooking. Her favorite pastime wasn’t baseball or sports. It was simply to watch her children, grandchildren or great grandchildren eat. Whether it was her signature pasta and sauce or the Betty Crocker box cake everything was served with her secret ingredient, love. She also loved to knit and knitted socks, hats and blankets for the entire family.

She shaped and touched the lives of not just her family but everyone around her. She forever remains our bedrock, formally known as “The Rock.”