Edith Pettinato, born and raised in the Village where she raised her own family, died on Sun. July 4 at St. Vincent’s Hospital at the age of 80.
She died of heart failure and had had several serious operations over the past 30 years, said her son, John, a founder of the Greenwich Village Youth Council and principal of the Institute for Collaborative Education, a grades 6-12 school located in the former Stuyvesant High School building on E. 15th St.
One of 11 children, Edith was the daughter of Lucrezia and Joseph Pagano, both immigrants from Calabria in Italy. She went to elementary school at Our Lady of Pompeii on Bleecker and Carmine Sts. and graduated from St. Vincent Ferrer High School, located on E. 65th St.
She then studied bookkeeping and accounting at a business school and worked as a bookkeeper for a bank for several years. She married Lawrence Pettinato, also born and bred in the Village, at Our Lady of Pompei Church 56 years ago.
For many years when her three sons were attending school at Our Lady of Pompeii, Edith Pettinato served in various leadership positions in the Parent Teacher Association, helping to raise funds for the school, John said.
Her husband survives as well as her son John, and another son Thomas. A third son, Lawrence Jr., died two years ago. A brother, Freddie, of Florida, and a sister, Viola, of Budd Lake, N.J., also survive, as do six grandchildren.
The funeral will be at our lady of Pompei, Bleecker and Carmine Sts., at 10 a.m. Thurs. July 8 with burial at Holy Rood Cemetery in Morris Co., N.J.
Perazzo Funeral Home, 199 Bleecker St., is in charge of arrangements.
