Annette DiVito Feb 22, 1925-Sept 12,2018
Mother of Steve, Ronald and Fred DiVito. Grandmother of Amy, Richard, Jennifer, Amanda, Adam, Eric, Ronald Jr., and Brianna. Great Grandmother to 15 of their children. Annette was born in Harlem New York to Harry and Dinah Kuna. She was the youngest of three siblings and the only one born in the United States. The family moved to the Bronx when she was a child. She attended Evander Childs High School and earned a commercial degree in bookkeeping also studying typing and stenography. She got her first job as an assistant bookkeeper in a retail store. Two years later she went to work for her father in his fur dying business. At nineteen years of age she met Mario DiVito her spouse to be at a community dance. They were of different religious backgrounds but their love was undeniable and they married in spite of her parents objections. They had their first child Steve, when she was twenty. She immediately went back to work and had Ronald fifteen months later and Fred five years after that. In each case she returned to work within weeks. She was always career minded and did not fit the mold of the stay at home mom. She felt that a woman needed more roles than just mom and was a model for present day feminists. She got her dream job some years later at Morse Business Machine where she started as head bookkeeper but before long become chief operating officer. She stayed at that job for 40 years and retired at 72 years of age. During this period she moved to Yonkers New York following the business as it moved. She resided in Yonkers for 46 years in the same apartment building with her sister and brother in law. When they passed she became the matriarch of the family. She and her husband divorced after 25 years of marriage due to irreconcilable differences and she never remarried. Upon retiring she became a teacher’s assistant in the Yonkers school system working with young children. She cherished this experience to help youngsters read English. She had many hobbies and interests. She was an accomplished pianist, loved knitting, dance, music, and word games. She had a zest for life and was always looking for new challenges. In summation, Annette was a mother, wife, career woman, business person, educator, grandmother, great grandmother, as well as a model citizen. She passed her virtues on to all who knew her. She was loved and will be missed by those whose life she touched.
A graveside service is planned for Friday, September 14, 2018 at 1:00 pm at Sharon Gardens Cemetery. Family and friends should meet at the cemetery office at 12:30 at 273 Lakeview Avenue, Valhalla NY 10595. A luncheon is planned at The Cabin Resturant, 1171 Knollwood Road, White Plains NY 10603 near the cemetery.