Rosina "Rose" Pugliese

A life journey that began over 91 years ago in Marinia di Gioiosa, Calabria,. Italy came to a peaceful end for Rose Pugliese of Tallmadge on Dec. 8, 2019.  Born in Italy in 1928, she arrived in America in 1952.  She traveled with her husband and three young children from Italy to join her parents in Akron where the family lived until moving to Tallmadge in 1970.

With a large, growing family and a husband with a modest income, Rose, always one to be resourceful, taught herself to read and write in English in order to better communicate and navigate her new life. With this knowledge she learned how to hunt for bargains when shopping, how to use coupons at grocery stores, and how to utilize the banking system to save money. She could stretch a dollar further than anyone can imagine and she taught us how to live within our means.

Rose’s life centered around her family, comprised of her husband and six children.  She was devoted to them and took great pride in all of their many accomplishments. Rose was also a wonderful cook and all the family absolutely loved all the delicious Italian dishes she lovingly prepared.  Homemade pastas and sauces, meatballs, stuffed zucchini and eggplant specialties, and her well known pizzas, made, of course, with homemade dough. Many of her specialties were made from vegetables in her large garden which she took great pride in maintaining. Looking back now, everyone agrees that we never lacked anything we needed. She made sure of that!  Also, it must be stressed that the secret ingredient in all she did for her family was to love us unconditionally.

Through her strong example and work ethic, her children thrived, graduated from college, became successful in a variety of careers and together raised 17 children of their own. They have also added 15 great grandchildren to the Pugliese family which brought Rose much joy. This is her legacy and we are fortunate to have had Rose as our loving and caring mother who relentlessly encouraged us, just as her memory will continue to encourage us and the next generations in the family.

Rose was preceded in death by her parents, Immacolata and Luigi Femia; her husband, Salvatore; her daughters, Melina (in Italy) and Joanne; her son, Louis; her brother-in-law, Dominic Chiera. 

She is survived by her daughters, Santina (Fred) Ziegler of Tallmadge and Lisa (Michael) Sullivan of Stow;  her sons, Frank (Amy) Pugliese of Bath, Joseph (Mary Jo) Pugliese of Copley, and James (Kalle) Pugliese of Stow; daughter-in-law, Athena Pugliese of Los Gatos, CA. Also surviving are her 17 grandchildren: Michael (Emily) Ziegler of Westport, CT, Jennifer Ziegler of New York City, David (Carissa) Ziegler of Foxboro, MA, Matthew (Jennifer) Pugliese of Evans, GA, Dana (Cole) Koning of Carmel, IN, Stephania (Argyris) Panayotopoulos of San Jose, CA, Eliana Pugliese (David Goldfarb) of Los Gatos, CA, Joseph (Anna) Pugliese of Bath, Betsy Pugliese of Bratenahl,   Anna Pugliese of Washington, DC, Grace Pugliese of Milwaukee, WI, Vinny Pugliese of Washington, DC, Sarah Pugliese of Nashville, TN, Allison Pugliese of Cleveland, Emily Pugliese of Cincinnati, Joanna Sullivan of Stow, and Patrick Sullivan of Stow, and 15 great grandchildren. Also surviving are her sister, Angela Chiera of Tallmadge; sister and brother-in-law, Lina (Attilio) Pugliese of Tallmadge, as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Friends may call at Donovan Funeral Home, 17 Southwest Ave., Tallmadge (On the historic Tallmadge Circle). Friday, Dec. 13 from 4 to 7 PM. 

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Our Lady of Victory Church, Tallmadge, on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 10:30 AM. PROCESSION TO FORM AT THE CHURCH.

Burial will take place at Holy Cross Cemetery following the service.

Memorials may be made in memory of Rose Pugliese to Our Lady of Victory Church, 73 North Ave.,Tallmadge, OH 44278 or to Summa Health Palliative Care, 525 E. Market St., Akron, OH. 44304.

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