Obituary of Isacco F. Rufino

Isacco F. Rufino Melfi, Italy With serenity and peace, Isacco Francesco Rufino (Frank) concluded his walk on this earth on August 20, 2011. He was 92 years old. Isacco was born in Melfi, Italy on November 23, 1918 to Michele Rufino and Erminia (Montanarella) Rufino. After the death of his mother, when he was only 9 months, his father remarried Concetta Vitucci. This was the woman he considered his mother since she raised him as her own. He met the love of his life, Theresa DiPressi thru letters as pen pals. After a few months of writing to each other, Theresa took a chance and went to Italy to meet him in March 1951. They were married after a month long romance in April 1951. They both came back to America to start a new life. Their daughter Lorna was born in January 1952 and 16 months later their son, Michael came along. The family was complete. Those first years were very hard on both of them. Frank worked in lace factory during the day and attended night school to learn English. Once he could speak some English, he started working as a plumber and was very successful. In a matter of 8 years, he was able to save enough money to go back to Italy to visit his mother and sister for 6 months with his wife and children. Frank never got over the death of Theresa in 1978. It changed him forever. He felt a loneliness that haunted him for the rest of his life. He remarried Filomena Prato in the 80's and went back to Melfi to live with her. When she died in 2007, it took a toll on his physical being. The loneliness was too much for him to bear. Frank loved to walk all over the place. You might have seen this little old man walking on Route 211 or Dolson Avenue, carrying shopping bags full of stuff. That would have been him. At the end, Frank lived a very interesting and fulfilling life. He passed away in peace. He was never sick a day in his life. He left us with many memories, some good, some not so good, but he was still our Dad. Survivors include his daughter, Lorna Lalli and her husband Alfred; his son Michael Rufino and his wife Dawn; his sister; Charina DiGuglielmo, his nieces; Anna DiGuglielmo and her husband Sandro, and Silvanna DiGuglielmo and her husband Robert; his grandchildren; Michael Rufino and his wife Emily, Richard Lalli and his wife Jennifer, Jaime Quinn and her husband Robert, Theresa Lalli, Paul Rufino, and Jillian Rufino, his great-grandchildren; Madelyn, Brendyn, Charlotte, Madison, Athena, and a 6th great grandchild on the way. Isacco is predeceased by his father, his birth mother, his mother who raised him, his brother, Gennaro Rufino, his sister, Edivige Rufino, his 1st wife Theresa DiPressi, and his 2nd wife Filomena Prato. Services were held in his home town in Melif, Italy at the Basilica Cathedrale, the same church where he and Theresa were married. Isacco was laid to rest at The Cemetario di Melfi in the family plot. To leave a condolence please visit www.wmgaganfuneralhome.com . Obituary info submitted to the William M. Gagan Funeral Home Inc. Pine Bush, NY