Florence Cardinali, a lifelong resident of the Village, where she raised her family, died Sept. 6 in the Carmel Richmond Rehabilitation and Nursing Home on Staten Island at the age of 87.
She was a resident of the nursing home since she suffered a stroke on May 14, the day after Mother’s Day, said her daughter, Carol Vitali.
Born on Grove St. to Rudolph and Lena DeBibian, Florence went to St. Joseph’s School in the Village and to Washington Irving High School. In 1942, she married Bob Cardinali, a Village neighbor who ran a family grocery store with his brother Richard at 137 Sullivan St. until they retired in 1984. Bob Cardinali died in 2004.
Devoted to her family, Florence Cardinali was active in the Parents Association of Our Lady of Pompeii School and in the Women’s Auxiliary.
“She took care of my father, my sister and me — she was the best mom ever,” said her daughter Carol, of Staten Island. Another daughter, Linda Kenny, of Connecticut, two grandchildren and a sister, Loretta Prendergast, of Queens, also survive.
The funeral was at Our Lady of Pompei Church at 9:30 a.m. Mon., Sept 10. Burial was in Calvary Cemetery in Queens. Perazzo Funeral Home, 199 Bleecker St., was in charge of arrangements.
