Obituary of Joseph F. Morrongiello

Joseph F. Morrongiello died Tuesday, January 5, 2021 at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick. He was 90 years old. Joe was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and later moved to Queens, NY, before settling in South River in 1962, where he remained until his passing.

He leaves behind his beloved wife of 65 years, Theresa (nee Scavone), and five children, Carol Angersbach and her husband Charles of McGaheysville, VA, Anthony Morrongiello and his wife Abbe of Franklin, MA, Matthew Morrongiello and his wife Debra of Hamilton, Joanne Manfre and her husband Charles of East Brunswick, and Christine Reilley and her husband Kevin of Spotswood. He has four grandchildren, Charles J. Angersbach and his wife Jill of Pickerington, OH, Nicole Russell and her husband, Nathan, of Winchester, VA, Maxwell Morrongiello of Franklin, MA, and Joseph M. Morrongiello and his wife, Carlee, of Plainsboro, NJ. He has six great-grandchildren, Luke and Jake Angersbach, and Benjamin, Evangeline, David, and Lucy Russell. Joseph and Carlee are expecting his seventh great-grandchild.

He was predeceased by his parents, Marcantonio Morrongiello and Caroline (Vuolo) Morrongiello, and his siblings, Philomena Hayden, Rafaella Fitzgerald, and Franke Vuolo. He is survived by two sisters, Mary Ann Manders and Frances Martini, and many beloved nieces and nephews.

Joe was an electrical engineer for 35 years at Bell Laboratories. Among his many accomplishments were the two patents he developed during his tenure there.

A Korean War veteran, he was proud to have served our country as a Master Sergeant in the US Marine Corps. During the Korean War he served as a radio mechanic.

He was a parishioner of Corpus Christi Church in South River, where he was an active member of the St. Vincent DePaul Society for many years.

Joe will be remembered as a loving, caring, and supportive husband, father, brother, uncle, and friend. Those close to him remember him for his sense of humor that stayed with him until the end. He loved to tell jokes and make those around him laugh. In fact, Theresa always recalled that on their first date, he peppered her with lots of jokes! He also loved to talk about history, current events, baseball, old movies, and music – especially Frank Sinatra. Although Joe grew up as a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, he later became an avid New York Mets fan and loved taking his family to Mets games, where they made memories they will always cherish.

Visitation will be 2-4pm and 7-9pm on Friday January 8, 2021 and 8:00-9:15am on Saturday January 9, 2021 at the M. David DeMarco Funeral Home, Inc. - 205 Rhode Hall Rd., Monroe Twp., NJ  08831.  Funeral services will begin at 9:15am on Saturday from the funeral home.  A funeral liturgy will be 10 am at Corpus Christi RC Church - 100 James St., South River, NJ  08882 followed by entombment in Holy Cross Burial Park Mausoleum - South Brunsiwck. 

It was Joe’s wishes that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Fisher House Foundation (fisherhouse.org).