Genoveffa Mastroianni

It is with profound grief and enormous sadness that we announce the passing of Genoveffa Mastroianni of Schenectady. She passed away on Sunday, March 16, 2025; living her last 3 years residing in the Guadeloupe Memory Care Unit at Our Lady of Mercy Life Center, Guilderland, NY. She was 89.
Genoveffa was born on April 12, 1935. She was the wife of the late Alessandro Mastroianni, whom she married on July 22, 1956 at St. Anthony’s Church. They celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary one month prior to his passing in August 2006. She was also mother to John A. (Eileen) Mastroianni who passed away 13 months after his father in 2007, at the age of 48.
She is survived by her children Anna Marie (Kevin) Schrom, of Guilderland, and Betty Gina (William) Cerutti, of Scotia; grandchildren, Philip and Peter Schrom, Gina Cerutti and Jennifer (Liam) Rowland, Michael Mastroianni and Michelle Wink; daughter-in-law, Eileen Mastroianni; four great-grandchildren; sister, Filomena Alteri, of Rome, Italy; brother, Louis (Antonietta) Fazzone; niece and brother-in-law, Fenisia and Nicole Mastroianni; sister-in-law, Maddalena Almaviva, all of Schenectady; sister-in-law, Angelina Padula, of Albany, Maria Fazzone, of Austin, TX; and several nieces and nephews.
Genoveffa was born in the small village of Piana di Mante Verna, Caserta, Italy, to Fenisia Ponsillo and Pietro Fazzone. She was one of eight children. She grew up on the family farm learning to care for the animals, and taking care of the flowers and vegetable gardens. She also spent a lot of time with her mother and sisters, cooking and baking, learning many of the family recipes she passed down to us. She was a phenomenal cook and baker. Her Frosted Mostaccioli were out of this world.
On July 8, 1954, she embarked on a journey to New York on the M.V. Saturnia with her father, Pietro, and brother Louis, passing thru Ellis Island and later joined by her brother Domenico. They came to Schenectady and together they worked as a family to make a better life for themselves. That life would later come to include Alessandro, her husband.
Soon after getting married they bought a small wooden house on Van Vranken, and together they bricked the entire house with a stone wall front and made it a home where they raised the three of us.
She started her career outside the home working at Modern Craft Laundry on State Street. She later worked at Ellis Hospital in the laundry department. She learned to drive and got her driver’s license and a car. It was here she was determined to learn the English language better and enrolled in the Night school in Adult Education at Linton High School, taking a course in Americanization learning to read and write and earning a certificate in May 1984. She then took a job at Sunnyview Hospital in Housekeeping and was quickly promoted to become a Physical Therapy Aide where she worked her remaining 25 years until she retired.
When we were young, she would make clothing patterns with newspapers from items she took apart and then we would take the bus downtown so she could buy fabric at Woolworth’s and then she treated us to ice cream at the counter for being well behaved. You know we were always good. Genoveffa or Genevive /Genny as she was known in her working years, was very much a do it yourself mom. She loved her vegetable garden and there were many stellar years with large Heirloom tomatoes, zucchini and fresh garlic. She also had the best flower boxes on the block. Her greatest outdoor love was that of her tall deep red Mister Lincoln hybrid tea roses. We often had walkers stop out front to talk to her about her rose bushes and how beautiful they were. Her roses brought her so much happiness.
Family was always very important and she had no greater love than that for her grandchildren. She loved them with all her heart, unconditionally. When they were with her, she always laughed and smiled, as if her heart might burst right at the seams. One of her favorite things to do was mix up her famous Butter cookie recipe, and have the kids help to cut out and decorate. Oh how she loved the Saturday night sleepovers with the kids!
Mom always said there was nothing in the world like ‘homemade’. Homemade sauce in September made with her garden tomatoes. Meatballs from scratch. Pork Sausage stuffed and hanging in the attic during the coldest time of the year to dry. Pickled antipasto, pickled eggplant, stuffed hot peppers, basket cheese at Easter, hand cut homemade pasta, Guantis freshly fried, Zeppole, on Christmas Eve, and the yearly Easter tradition of making Easter bread. She even mastered making Galumpkis, which she learned from a recipe given to her by a co-worker. Everything she touched was like gold. How fitting for a woman who had a heart of gold. Her generosity, kindness, empathy, sincerity, love for others, and constant selflessness, were only a few of her many “Golden” qualities. She always thought of others before herself.
A lifelong devoted Communicant of St. Anthony’s Church, a member of the Sacred Heart League for many years and an annual Festa Worker. She was a member of the Sons of Italy, Lodge 321 and in 2009 was the First Prize winner of the OSIA cookie completion and in 2016 was first place for the Mastroianni Red Wine in the OSIA wine contest. She was also a dedicated volunteer as a lunch room Aide, at St. Anthony’s’ School and later at St. John the Evangelist School. The kids all knew her and loved Nonna.
She is predeceased in death by her parents, Fenisia Ponsillo and Pietro Fazzone; brothers, Antonio, Severino, Giuseppe, Domenico and a sister, Carmella.
Our family would like to thank all of the wonderful staff in the Guadalupe Memory Car unit at Our Lady of Mercy Life Care Center. Thank you for taking such good care of “Mama” aka “Genny” and making her feel so welcome on that first day. You opened your arms and your hearts to her. The transition was not easy at times, but your dedication and conviction quickly became apparent. Thank you for being gentle, kind, devoted, caring, loving and not just for mom, but for us as well. You were an enormous source of support for us, even in our darkest days and there were many. You are a very special group of people and OLOM is lucky to have each and everyone of you.
Our thanks goes out to Community Hospice for all your support to our family, helping us during this very difficult time, and the wonderful care you were able to provide to mom in her last few months.
Special thanks to Ed and Chris Kazmierczak, Eucharistic Ministers from St. Anthony’s Church who came faithfully to visit and bring her Holy Communion. We are forever grateful.
Services will be held on Friday at 10:30 am from the Rossi & Ditoro Funeral Home, 501 Union Street, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11am at St. Anthony’s Church, Seward Place. Entombment will follow in Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery.
Relatives and friends are invited to call at the Rossi & Ditoro Funeral Home on Friday from 8:30am to 10:30am.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Genoveffa’s memory to the Alzheimer’s Association of Northeastern NY Chapter, at www.alz.org/northeasternny .