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Serafina Di Prinzio (Nanni) was born on February 7th 1939 in a small town called Cannosa Sannita (Chieti) to her parents Nanni Nicola and Maria Domenica Nasuti. She was the oldest of three children and spent much of her childhood working on her parent’s farm and taking care of her younger siblings Nicola and Maria. As a teenager, Serafina would work hard on the farm during the day to help her family, but would look forward to the evenings after the harvest when she would spend all night dancing around the campfire and spending time with her cousins.
At age 15, she met Giuseppe Di Prinzio, her neighbor, and they fell in love right away, with Giuseppe even going so far as to cut a hole in the attic of the barn so he could catch an extra glimpse of her through his binoculars whenever he could. After a long engagement, they were married in 1961 and gave birth to twins Claudio and Diana soon after in 1962. They couldn’t have been happier to have both a boy and a girl. Claudio and Diana have fond memories of Serafina sewing them fabulous outfits of events, and cooking food for them in the fireplace of their home. Giuseppe moved to Switzerland soon after their wedding with Serafina and their children following shortly after. She absolutely adored Switzerland and enjoyed nothing more than visiting local castles with her family and educating herself about the history of the area. In 1971, Giuseppe relocated to the United States to follow in the footsteps of his siblings, with Serafina, Claudio and Diana joining him in 1974. They settled in Pennsylvania and were able to build themselves a wonderful life for their family. She helped support her family by using her passion for sewing in her employment as a seamstress, and loved bringing home different Halloween costumes each year to give to each of her four grandchildren.
Her life revolved around her family, going on adventures with her children and grandchildren to the Amish Country and visiting the great lakes with her son Claudio. One of the highlights of her later life was her recent trip to Italy with Claudio and his wife Christina for the wedding of her grandson Giuseppe and his wife Christie, allowing her to spend precious time with her loved ones in Italy. She was always a resourceful woman, making sure to make use of everything she had available to her, even when that meant “recycling” her grandchildren’s recently deceased pet rabbits and serving them up as “pork chops”. No-one was fooled!
In her later years, after her retirement in 2002, Serafina filled her time tending to her garden, building chicken wire fortresses to keep out the deer and cursing at them when they managed to eat her vegetables anyway. Above all else, she was very sociable, enjoying being with her family and spending time with her many friends and neighbors. She loved keeping up to date with everyone’s lives, and was so excited for the birth of her great-granddaughter in April next year.
She is survived in Italy by her brother Nicola and his wife Rachelina, her sister Maria and her husband Clasio, and her many nieces and nephews.
She is survived in the United States by her sisters-in-law Theresa and Argia, her brother-in-law Nick, and all of her nieces and nephews. She also leaves behind her daughter and son-in-law Diana and Antonio, her son and daughter-in-law Claudio and Christina, her grandchildren Sonia and her husband Zach, Joseph and his wife Emily, Giuseppe and his wife Christie, and Laura and her son Alessio.
The world will be a sadder place without Serafina but we know that she has finally been reunited with the love of her life Giuseppe. She touched the hearts of everyone she met and has left us all with cherished memories that we will always keep close to our hearts.
2020 has taken a lot from us. We learned not to take hugs and spending time with family and friends for granted. We hope that next year we can heal and find peace.
Relatives and friends are invited to Serafina’s funeral mass at Visitation BVM on Saturday, December 19, 2020 at 10 AM. Relatives and friends may call from 9 to 10 at the church.
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