Julia Dibello

Julia DiBello, former long time resident of Washington, PA, and recently residing at Redstone Highlands in Greensburg, PA, passed away peacefully in her sleep on December 7, 2010. She was born Giulia Tommasina D’Alessandro on October 3, 1917 in the town of Ari, Province of Chieti, Region of Abruzzo in Italy. Julia came to the United States in 1922 with her mother Maria Castelnuova D’Alessandro (deceased) and her younger brother Primo (deceased) to join her father Costantino D’Alessandro (deceased). She married Vincent “Jimmy” DiBello (deceased) of Washington, PA on June 15, 1938. Julia and Jimmy were children of the depression and together they combined Julia’s Abruzzo spirit and strength and Jimmy’s Salerno sunshine and gentle nature to make a marriage and raise a family of three children—Louis, Mary Ann Wolfe and Thomas. Jimmy DiBello passed away in Washington, PA in 1990, after a fifty-year career as a high school mathematics teacher. They had been married for fifty-three years. Julia made education a high priority for her children. Her older son Louis earned a PhD and is currently a researcher at the Learning Sciences Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her daughter Mary Ann followed in her father’s footsteps and spent her work life as a teacher. She retired in 2009 from Hempfield School District, Westmoreland County, PA. Julia’s youngest son Thomas graduated with a degree in pharmacy and runs a successful orthotics and prosthetics business in Houston, TX. She was proud of all of her children and she told them so. Julia loved growing her own vegetables and home-cooking food. One way she expressed her love of family and friends was through food joyfully prepared, prayed over and consumed in frequent family gatherings. She was employed for more than ten years in the food kitchens at Washington & Jefferson College where she translated her home kitchen expertise into a larger-scale operation. Those same skills were applied to making meatballs and tomato sauce for spaghetti dinners and home made perogi and fried dough for festivals at her church. Julia regularly helped friends study for their citizenship tests and read and wrote letters for them in Italian. A member of Immaculate Conception Church, Washington, PA for over fifty years, she was active in the Christian Mothers and in the Ladies of Charity. She made regular visits to nursing and elderly homes and learned first hand about the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease and the realities of “senior living.” Her constant prayer became “Dear God, please keep my mind clear.” She continued her charitable activities until she moved to Greensburg, PA to be closer to her daughter Mary Ann Wolfe. Mary Ann lovingly cared for her mother during her later years. Julia was preceded in death by her husband Vincent, her parents Costantino and Maria Castelnuova D’Alessandro of Pittsburgh, PA, her brother Primo D’Alessandro, her sister Rose Marie Frisch of Long Beach, CA, and her brother Jimmy D’Alessandro of Pittsburgh. Julia is survived by her three children and their families: Louis and wife Marie of Chicago IL, with grandchildren Louis Jr. of Urbana IL, Christopher of Columbus, OH, and Jae (nee Jennifer) Takeuchi of Madison, WI; Mary Ann Wolfe and her husband Jeff of Latrobe, PA with grandchildren Dawn Gallagher of Macungie, PA and John Wolfe of Boston, MA; and Tom and his wife Lesley of Friendswood, TX with grandchildren Lyndsey Knight of Houston, TX and Andrew of Austin, TX. Julia also is survived by her brother Alfred D’Alessandro and his wife Sally of Pittsburgh; by sister Nancy Coran and her husband Thomas of Pittsburgh, PA, along with two children Martin and Brian of Pittsburgh and their families, (a third child Kevin is deceased); by her sister Mary Ann D’Alessandro of Pittsburgh, PA; by her brother Jimmy’s children Debra D’Alessandro of Philadelphia, PA and Jimmy D’Alessandro of Pittsburgh and their families; and by the children of her deceased sister Rose-Marie Frisch of Long Beach, CA: Connie Marie, Stephen, Kathy Ann, and Michael. On her husband’s side she is survived by her nephew Donnie DiBello and his wife Cindy of Pittsburgh, PA, and their children Mark and his family and Annie; and by her niece Angie DiNella and her husband Jimmy and daughter Jeannine of Pittsburgh. Julia’s sunshine, spirit, and love are celebrated by three children, seven grandchildren, eight great grandchildren and four great, great grandchildren, one brother, two sisters, four nephews, two nieces, and a large number of great-nephews, great-nieces, and multiple levels of cousins and other family in the USA as well as family in Italy. A viewing will be held 2 to 4 and 6 to 8:00 p.m., Thursday, at William G. Neal Funeral Homes, Ltd, 395 East Maiden Street, Washington, PA. A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m., Friday, December 10, at Immaculate Conception Church, 119 W. Chestnut Street, Washington. Entombment will follow in St. James Mausoleum, Immaculate Conception Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Vincent and Julia DiBello Scholarship Fund, Washington and Jefferson College, 60 S. Lincoln Street, Washington, PA 15301.