Maria Albanese died peacefully on October 1, 2019. Maria was born in Favara, Sicily to the late Maria Caramanno and Salvatore Vullo. She married Michele Albanese and they came to the United States in 1955. They began their new life in New York where they had two children, George and Stellina, and later moved to Jersey City, where they had their third child Salvatore. Maria worked in a variety of settings, first in a tobacco processing plant and as a seamstress in New York, and later for the Jersey City Medical Center, and the Jersey City Board of Education. Maria founded and sustained the popular Presto’s restaurant, which was known to have had the best Italian food in Jersey City. She was deeply devoted to her large extended family.
Maria is survived by Stellina’s two children, Michael and Alex; George and his three children, Michelle, Christopher, and Erica; and Salvatore and his wife Patty and their three children: Mathew and his wife Katy, Mark, and Jeffrey.
Visitation is Friday, October 4, 2019 from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Riotto Funeral Home & Cremation Company, 3205 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City 07306 (www.riottofh.com). Funeral will begin on Saturday, October 5, 2019, 9:00 AM at the funeral home. Funeral Mass will follow 10:00 AM at Saint Anne’s Church, Jersey City. Interment will take place at George Washington Memorial Park, Paramus. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Maria's name to: St. Jude's Children Research Hospital (www.StJude.org).