Rose Federici

Beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, Rose Marie Federici of Harvey Cedars, NJ, died Tuesday March 10th, at home. Her devoted husband, John, was with her. She faced her physical challenges with strength and grace, revealing her kind and grateful heart to the very end.

Rose was born in Glens Falls, NY and raised all over America and Germany as a child of a US Army military family. She was proud of her Irish heritage. She greatly admired her parents, John and Rose Riley, for their hard work, family values, humility and faith. Her Catholic faith was a constant in her life. As a girl, she attended many Catholic schools. She attended St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana where she met John. They were married in 1983.

After college, Rose began her career as a research chemist for Allied-Signal, where she co-authored several papers and patents. She left Allied-Signal to start a family and then restarted her career in banking, where she began as a teller and rose through the ranks of commercial lending to become a regional Vice President for Commercial Lending in New Jersey. Rose spent many years living in Westfield NJ where she enjoyed life-long friends and entertaining. After leaving banking, she brought her financial, management and organizational skills to the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, first to the College of Arts and Sciences as assistant to the Dean, followed by many years as Assistant Provost in the NJIT Provost’s office. Prior to retirement, Rose finished her career at NJIT in the Sponsored Research Office.

Rose was married to her loving spouse for 43 years. God put into her heart a marvelous love for family, friends, and strangers. She was a strong, doting, devoted mother and grandmother. Her passions and interests included her grandchildren, cooking, sewing, swimming and spending time with friends. Rose would love to curl up on the couch with her dog Atticus and read a good book. Rose was very family oriented and focused on doing for others. For many years, her house was the center for family holidays such as Thanksgiving. Rose enjoyed family gatherings at Notre Dame football games with her siblings and parents. She also enjoyed family retreats, dinners, and beach fun on Long Beach Island.

Always a faithful and giving woman, Rose helped many family members and friends while leading a prayerful life.

She is survived by her husband John, her son Michael, daughter-in-law Liz and her grandchildren Dominic, Sebastian, and Catherine as well as grandchildren Paul and Grace Dodds. She is also survived by her twin sister Nancy Gazzerro (husband Mike, daughter Teresa with husband Robert and their sons James and Adam, son Michael and daughters Elena and Grace, daughter Angela with husband Carl and their children Zachary, Alexander, and Clara), older brother John Riley (wife Susan, son Sean with wife Caroline and sons Patrick and Conner, son Daniel with fiancée Anna and daughter Margaret with husband Spencer and daughter Eleanor), and younger brother Michael Riley (wife Nellie, son John with wife Maryellen and their children Johnny and Maryellen, daughter Sally with husband Joe and children Jack and Marynell, daughter Rose with husband Michael and children Kath and Nora, daughter Mary with husband James and son James).

Friends may visit the family on Saturday March 14th from 1-2:30pm at Marotti-Burns Funeral Home in Forked River, NJ.

A funeral mass at St. Francis of Assisi Parish on Long Beach Island will be celebrated on March 23, for a gathering at 10:30 am followed immediately by a Memorial Mass that will begin at 11am.

Please feel free to call the funeral home with any questions (609) 891-4700

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the food bank at St. Francis of Assisi parish :(https://www.stfranciscenterlbi.org/foodpantry ).