Carmella Bellomo

Carmella “Camille” Bellomo (nee Pascuzzi)

Carmella passed away peacefully in her home on Nov. 9, 2024. 

She recently celebrated “centeano”, her 100 th birthday! She was predeceased by her beloved husband Gido Bellomo; parents Lucy and Frank Pascuzzi; siblings Dominick, Michael, Harold and Jeanette Pascuzzi and baby Maria; and her nephew, Ronnie Pascuzzi. She is survived by her sister Mary Ritacco and brother George Pascuzzi, sister-in-law Marie Pascuzzi, and more than ten nieces and nephews. 

She was prepared in her heart to be with her Lord and be reunited with her loved ones who have passed on before. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to the Guild for Exceptional Children, 260 68th Street Brooklyn, NY 11220 or via its website www.gecbklyn.org . To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Carmella Bellomo, please visit our flower store. 

These are words that she wanted to share;

“To those I love - When I am gone, release me, let me go. You mustn’t tie yourself to me with tears, be happy that we had so many years (Amen to that!). I gave you my love. You can only guess how much you gave me in happiness, but now it is time that I traveled on alone. So grieve for me if grieve you must, but then let your grief be comforted by trust. It’s only awhile that we must part so bless the memories within your heart. I won’t be far away, for life goes on. So if you need me, call me and I will come. Though you can’t see or touch me, I’ll be near – and if you listen with your heart, you’ll hear all of my love around you soft and clear. And then, when you must come this way alone I’ll greet you with a smile and greet you with welcome home.”

-

Eulogy for Carmella/Camille Bellomo 

by oldest nephew/Godson Joe “Rick” Ritacco 

Nov 2024

(She passed away Sat afternoon on Nov 9, 2024 in her home resting peacefully in her bed as she preferred it to be).

Before I start, let us take a moment to acknowledge other recent losses, Carmella’s brother Mike and his wife Jo and Betty, wife of her nephew Frank aka Santa. If I forgot anyone, please lift up that name now. 

…Moment of silence…

Carmella, known by most of us as Camille, and I thank you for being here today to celebrate her life and to rejoice in her glorious future. I am Joe Ritacco, known to the Pascuzzi family as “Rick”. I feel blessed to be Aunt Camille’s oldest nephew and her first Godchild. I think this eulogy would aptly be titled “centeano karma.” Let me start by sharing two memories. The first one has been fondly shared by Aunt Camille to me many times. When I was born I was living with my Pascuzzi Grandparents and aunts and uncles on Rogers Avenue in Brooklyn. This was because my Dad was overseas in Europe during WWII. So not only was I the first Pascuzzi grandchild, I actually lived with them for about one year. This of course created a very special lifelong relationship. Aunt Camille accompanied my mom to the hospital when I was born. She added this unusual wrinkle. She asserts that she held me before my mother did for reasons that are not clear. By the way, I never vetted this detail with my Mom. At this point, I won’t bother telling my Mom. Let this myth persist. My Mom is now 102 years old and doing fine. But at this point it is too difficult for her to get out, so she can’t be with us today. The second story is from Mother’s Day about 8 years ago. My wife and her Mom decided to visit my Mom at her Sunrise assisted living residence. Camille decided to join us. We enjoyed some good Italian deli sandwiches and pickles. Sitting around the lunch table, I realized that I was with my mother, my mother-in-law, the mother of my children (Sue) and my Godmother Camille! For me this was the mother of all mother’s days! ..Seek to make such opportunities if you can. Now let’s talk about Aunt Camille as a mother. As you probably know, Aunt Camille did not bear any children of her own as she got married late in life at age 45. Nevertheless she was a mother many times over. Let me explain. For me she was like a second mother, not that I needed or wanted one. One of her duties was to tell me that I needed a haircut. As you can see she reminded me one last time for this special day. But there were some pluses as well. My parents did not like going to the beach, but Camille did. So she occasionally took me to Brighton Beach, just the 2 of us on the elevated subway. And if she didn’t want to be bothered by the boys, she would simply tell them that I was her son; It worked. She was also Godmother to about 5 Godchildren. Then she became step-mother to Gido’s adult children. But I think the most special of her motherhood roles came to her at the Guild for Special Children where she served up until about age 90! Many of her special needs charges called her “mommy”. She smiled whenever she told this story. Those who knew Camille would know that she was very passionate about her husband Gido and the Pascuzzi family; Italian food and wine which she enjoyed up until very recently. But most important was her strong faith as a Catholic. Her bouts with cancer, the losses of Gido and family members, and her relative isolation during covid were trying times for her. The telephone helped a lot too! In these recent difficult years, when I spoke with her I would hear comments like. “Things just aren’t the way they used” or numerous variations. Then she went deeper when things were particularly bleak in the world, eg covid. “Rick, do you think this is in an omen for the end of the world”. And I would respond by saying, “Aunt Camille, If it is to be, then it will be; there is nothing we can do about it so please don’t worry about it.” She would often ask why Jesus hadn’t taken her yet. She was more than ready and prepared. This was harder for me to respond to. I eventually started using the following pat response; ”Aunt Camille, when Jesus is ready for you, he will call. Not for us to know when or why”. PAUSE - Well Jesus has finally called her. I am happy to report that she left peacefully from her home and is now in a better place of eternal peace and is reunited with her Gido and departed family members. Let us say AMEN to that. AMEN Let me end by recalling my title “centeano karma”. “Centeano” means 100 years in Italian. The term is used instead of saying happy birthday. It implies “may you live to be 100 years”. Aunt Camille indeed used this expression often. I recently told her that there is a problem with this expression. What do you say to those who have reached 100 years of age? She had no answer. In closing, the karma aspect is that her wish that those around her would live to 100 became a gift bestowed upon her! AMEN AMEN! Everybody say …AMEN AMEN