Mary Femino
Mary Femino (nee Garippa), a lifelong Kearny resident, died peacefully at home on July 31, 2024.
She was 99.
Visiting was at the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, Kearny. Her service was at the funeral home and burial was in Arlington Cemetery, Kearny.
Mary was a very faithful, loving and prayerful woman. She graduated from Rutgers University in 1948 with a degree in chemistry, at a time when few women were STEM majors. She retired as a technical librarian from Givaudan S.A. in Belleville. Prior to that she worked in chemistry for Wallace and Tiernan. As a scholar, fluent in several languages, she donated a great amount of her skills translating chemistry journals and Christian publications into English.
Many have enjoyed her passion for crocheting … blankets, scarves and hairbands … done with a prayer in every stitch.
Wife of the late Frank Femino, she was the beloved mother of Angela Femino, Christina Steele (her husband Robert) and Frank Femino (his wife Elizabeth). Sister of David Garippa (his wife Sadie) and the late John, Ralph, Joseph, Peter and Phillip Garippa, also surviving are her cherished grandchildren Mark, Frank, Luke, Giorgio and Roberto.
She faithfully attended her weekly church service via Zoom and loved making the final closing prayer. She will be missed by all.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.