Anna “Nina” Pelino 95, of Aliquippa passed away on September 1, 2024, in the comfort of her home. She was born on October 5, 1928, in Pacentro (L’ Aquila, Abruzzo), Italy, the eldest daughter of Virginia and Ettore Fabilli. She was preceded in death by her husband, Celestino Pelino and her sister Argentina Manfre (Frank). She is survived by her two daughters, Louise McDonald (Dennis) and Donna Emery (Richard), four grandchildren Denny and Celeste, Anna Emery and Stephanie Harm (Chris), two great grandchildren, her sisters, Flora Lucci, (the late Biagio), Violetta Rubino (Germano), Amelia Garofolo (Nick), her brother Giovanni Fabilli (Emma) and many loving nieces and nephews.
Anna was a loving wife, mother, sister, grandmother, and great grandmother. She had four sisters and one brother. She was affectionately called “Mama” by her family.
At the age of 16, on September 6, 1946, she married Celestino Pelino in Chiesa Madre di Santa Maria della, Misericordia Church. Together they lived an exemplary life of devotion to God, family and friends. If anyone needed help, they were there before anyone would ask. They taught their children it is better to give then receive.
Celestino immigrated to the United States and found employment at J&L Steel, where his father Salvatore, a World War I combat veteran of the Italian army and a World War I veteran of the U.S. Army, was working. Celestino then sent for Anna. With her first-born daughter, Luisa, she boarded an ocean liner and headed for America, landing at Ellis Island. She went to Americanization classes to learn English. While she embraced her new country, her home in Aliquippa was a bit of Italy. She kept many values and traditions she learned growing up in the well-preserved medieval village of Pacentro, a town of about 1,200 residents near Sulmona and 110 miles east of Rome.
After settling into a home on Plan 12, they had a second daughter, Donna. It was at this home they had gardens, growing their own vegetables. The aroma from Nina’s kitchen brought you back to Italy. She was a superb cook. The doorbell always rang on Sundays, and you never knew who to expect to join the family for dinner. She and Celestino were the happiest sharing their home with family, friends, and strangers. They were perfectionists in everything they did, whether it was cooking, sewing, cleaning or gardening. Her home was spotless. In addition to her culinary achievements, Nina helped make homemade wine ratcheting the wine press when Celestino and Salvatore were at work, even though she never drank a drop of it.
While Nina was an excellent cook, she was also a talented seamstress. She worked at Stoff’s men’s clothing shop in Aliquippa, altering men’s suits. When Gimbels opened in the Beaver Valley Mall, she was employed in the bridal department specializing in wedding gown alterations, and other premium alterations. She kept a storehouse of fabric. The volume of completed projects waiting for the right moment to be bestowed upon a loved one was astounding. She created wedding gowns, Holy Communion, Confirmation and prom dresses, as well as three-piece suits and coats. There was nothing that Nina could not sew.
As a matriarch of the family, in her quiet but strong ways, she was a graceful, gracious and generous woman, with profound wisdom, an immeasurable, kind heart, and deep faith. Her love for her family was paramount. She cherished being a mama to her grandchildren with whom she shared her abundance of love and care.
A Mass of Christian burial be celebrated at 10:00 A.M. on Tuesday, September 10, at St. Titus Church of Mary Queen of Saints Parish, where she was a member for more than 70 years. Private interment will be held at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Anthony Mastrofrancesco Funeral Home, 2026 McMinn Street, Aliquippa.
