Obituary of Joanne Constantini
Jo Anne Constantini, age 77, of Rome, passed away peacefully, after a long illness, on February 10, 2020.
She was born June 23, 1942, in Herkimer, the daughter of the late Joseph and Dolores DiCamillo Bommarito. As a dancer in her youth, she graduated from Herkimer schools and Mohawk Valley Community College. Jo Anne was united in marriage to Walter Constantini, on May 21, 1988. In her lifetime, she worked at several area companies such as MDS, National Auto, General Electric, Nichols Department Store, and in her last position before retirement, as a dedicated job coach at the ARC in Rome, serving for many years. She was also a member of the Lee American Legion Post 1794 and Lee American Legion Auxiliary, Past President of the Lee American Legion Auxiliary and Past President of the Oneida County American Legion Auxiliary. She was a member of St. Paul’s Church.
She proudly served in the U. S. Navy Reserves for 11 years and looked forward to the two weeks each year where she would be stationed in a new and exciting location. This would allow her to indulge in one of her favorite hobbies; photography. She never missed an opportunity to take roll upon roll of pictures documenting nearly everything she did during her stay. She would then develop the images in her own darkroom. This knowledge and experience lead to a stint as a freelance photographer for area publications, and participation in several photography shows. Her interests were many. She was the de facto expert on anything "Wizard of Oz" related. Her love for old Disney movies was unmatched. At one point, she signed up for a course to become a truck driver. While at home, she spent quite a bit of time with various craft projects. Over the years it was anything from ceramics, making costume jewelry, furniture refinishing, to covering lampshades with new painted designs. Always the comedienne, her antics will be sorely missed.
Jo Anne is survived by her husband, Walter; a son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Rita Fullerton of Clifton Springs; stepchildren; Greg and Cindy Gombert of Key West, FL, Walter Jr and Roseann Constantini of Stittville, Julia and Bernal Zeledon of Concord, NC, and Mary and James Kubinski of Bay Village, OH; a brother and sister-in-law, Ronald and Gloria Bommarito of Arizona; sisters inlaw and a brother in law, Janice Davis of Danbury, CT, and Rita and Ross Harrison of Danbury, CT; grandchildren, Olivia, Aleena, Naomi, Jacob, Aaron, Carissa, Courtney, Tyler, Megan and Cory; and 2 great grandchildren. She would light up whenever she spent time with her grandchildren. This was a great source of enjoyment for her in her later years.
The funeral service with Military Honors will be held Saturday, February 22, 2020, at 1:00 PM, at the Lee American Legion Post #1794, 9025 Thomas Road, Lee Center 13363.
Memorial contributions may be made to Lee American Legion Post #1794.
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Barry Funeral Home, 807 W. Chestnut Street.