Obituary for Pellegrino "Bill" DeCianni
GREEN ISLAND – Pellegrino DeCianni passed peacefully from this life, at the age of 96, on Friday, July 15, 2022 in the comfort of his home and surrounded by the love of his family.
Pellegrino, known by many as Bill, was born in the Village of Pietrelcina, Province of Benevento, Italy on December 21, 1925 to parents Domenicantonio DeCianni and Maria Donata Cardone. He was raised in Italy and also resided, for thirteen years, in Libya in Northern Africa before returning to Italy to serve in the Italian Army. He came to the United States in 1955 and settled initially in Troy before relocating to Green Island in 1962 following his marriage to his beloved wife, Anna (Deodati) DeCianni who survives.
Bill was employed by the Norton Company for over thirty years before his retirement in 1990 and simultaneously was employed by Hudson Valley Community College in Troy from where he retired at the age of 80 following more than thirty years there as well.
Bill was a member of the Italian American Community Centers of both Green Island and Troy and assisted as a Bingo worker each week in Troy. He enjoyed his weekly poker games with his friends and also liked to ride his bicycle, play scrabble, ping pong, bocce and soccer. He enjoyed athleticism, hard work and volunteering his time to assist others. He often helped at festivals, suppers and fundraisers and would always lend a hand to anyone who needed it.
He was a member of the former Cohoes Community Center where he enjoyed swimming and socializing and was a communicant of the former St. Joseph’s Church in Green Island and the Shrine Church of St. Anthony of Padua in Troy.
Loved by many, Bill will be missed by everyone whose life he touched.
He was the much loved husband, for sixty years, of Anna (Deodati) DeCianni; the cherished father of William (Gina) DeCianni and Anita (Larry) DeCianni-Brown; the proud grandfather of Victoria (Sarah Vanderhoef) Brown, Angelica DeCianni, Adriana (Kyle Foster) Brown and Alexander (Adrienne) DeCianni; brother of the late Antonio, Giuseppe and Vincenzo DeCianni. Also surviving are many loving nieces and nephews.
A funeral Mass for Pellegrino will be celebrated by the Reverend Richard J. Donovan, OFM, on Wednesday at 10 am in the Shrine Church of St. Anthony of Padua, 28 State Street, Troy The Rite of Committal and interment will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Troy. Friends are invited to attend and may also visit with the DeCianni family on Tuesday from 4 until 7 pm at the Parker Brothers Memorial, 2013 Broadway, Watervliet. For those wishing to remember Pellegrino in special way donations, in his memory, may be made to Trees for Tribs, www.naturalheritagetrust.org/trees-for-tribs , in recognition of his love for trees and their importance, or to the Green Island Food Pantry, 20 Clinton Street, Green Island, NY 12183.
Pellegrino, known by many as Bill, was born in the Village of Pietrelcina, Province of Benevento, Italy on December 21, 1925 to parents Domenicantonio DeCianni and Maria Donata Cardone. He was raised in Italy and also resided, for thirteen years, in Libya in Northern Africa before returning to Italy to serve in the Italian Army. He came to the United States in 1955 and settled initially in Troy before relocating to Green Island in 1962 following his marriage to his beloved wife, Anna (Deodati) DeCianni who survives.
Bill was employed by the Norton Company for over thirty years before his retirement in 1990 and simultaneously was employed by Hudson Valley Community College in Troy from where he retired at the age of 80 following more than thirty years there as well.
Bill was a member of the Italian American Community Centers of both Green Island and Troy and assisted as a Bingo worker each week in Troy. He enjoyed his weekly poker games with his friends and also liked to ride his bicycle, play scrabble, ping pong, bocce and soccer. He enjoyed athleticism, hard work and volunteering his time to assist others. He often helped at festivals, suppers and fundraisers and would always lend a hand to anyone who needed it.
He was a member of the former Cohoes Community Center where he enjoyed swimming and socializing and was a communicant of the former St. Joseph’s Church in Green Island and the Shrine Church of St. Anthony of Padua in Troy.
Loved by many, Bill will be missed by everyone whose life he touched.
He was the much loved husband, for sixty years, of Anna (Deodati) DeCianni; the cherished father of William (Gina) DeCianni and Anita (Larry) DeCianni-Brown; the proud grandfather of Victoria (Sarah Vanderhoef) Brown, Angelica DeCianni, Adriana (Kyle Foster) Brown and Alexander (Adrienne) DeCianni; brother of the late Antonio, Giuseppe and Vincenzo DeCianni. Also surviving are many loving nieces and nephews.
A funeral Mass for Pellegrino will be celebrated by the Reverend Richard J. Donovan, OFM, on Wednesday at 10 am in the Shrine Church of St. Anthony of Padua, 28 State Street, Troy The Rite of Committal and interment will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Troy. Friends are invited to attend and may also visit with the DeCianni family on Tuesday from 4 until 7 pm at the Parker Brothers Memorial, 2013 Broadway, Watervliet. For those wishing to remember Pellegrino in special way donations, in his memory, may be made to Trees for Tribs, www.naturalheritagetrust.org/trees-for-tribs , in recognition of his love for trees and their importance, or to the Green Island Food Pantry, 20 Clinton Street, Green Island, NY 12183.