Obituary of Alma Martha Benvenuti

Alma Benvenuti, beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her family on Tuesday, July 14th, just a few months shy of her 100th birthday.

Alma’s birth foreshadowed a unique life in which her intelligence, beauty and grace would be tested repeatedly. Born Alma Avidano on Veteran’s Day, November 11, 1926, her childhood was disrupted suddenly by the untimely death of her father on that same day seven years later.  Leaving the United States the following year with her mother and younger sister to live on her grandparents’ farm in northern Italy, Alma would spend her childhood and teenage years in German-occupied territory, hiding her American passport and her cousin, captured in France by the Americans, who had escaped and walked over the Alps to the farm where he hid to avoid being sent to the Russian front.  An exceptional student, Alma interrupted her university studies in chemistry to return to the States before turning 21, having been told incorrectly she might lose her American citizenship.

Arriving in 1946 on the first ship leaving Genoa with civilians, she and her sister Vilma were embraced immediately by her father’s family in Corona, Queens. After relearning English, Alma was hired by Paramount Pictures in Manhattan, enjoying the vibrancy and glamour of the post-World War II years. She met her future husband, Andrew Benvenuti, at an Italian Club in the city where she and her friends went dancing after work. Their first dance was the tango.

Married for 49 years, Andy and Alma raised two sons, Raynard and Eric, in a three-family home in Flushing, Queens alongside her sister, near her large extended family. Nicknamed Saint Alma, she would spend much of her marriage quietly caring for others including Andy, a Navy veteran, who would be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his forties. That he lived to his 80th year to enjoy the lives of his children and grandchildren, is a testament to his determination and her exceptional care.

Alma touched every life she met. To be in her presence was to be with someone who actively listened and centered any conversation around you, your life, your worries, and your joys. She found beauty in her daily gardening; she prayed faithfully. She said that when she felt down, she found someone else to help. Hers was a life centered on others, not self. A rare and beautiful spirit.

Alma’s family includes her two sons and their spouses, Ray and Janet Benvenuti of Concord, MA, Dr. Eric and Dr. Eve Benvenuti of Morristown, NJ, five grandchildren, Dr. Michael and Shannon Benvenuti, Eric and Carolyn Benvenuti, Christina and Steve Brunson, Kathryn Benvenuti, and Dr. Teresa and John Coogan, four great-grandchildren and several much-loved nieces and nephews.

A funeral mass will be held on Tuesday, July 21st, at 11am in the Church of Christ the King in New Vernon, NJ. The mass will be live streamed and recorded here (www.churchofchristtheking.org). Alma’s internment will be on Wednesday, July 22nd at 11am at Calverton National Cemetery on Long Island. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made with gratitude for the Homebound Ministry of St. Vincent Martyr parish in Madison, NJ, (www.svmnj.org), and spiritual support from the Church of Christ the King (www.churchofchristtheking.org)

Arrangements are under the care of burroughs, Kohr & Dangler Funeral Home, Madison, NJ.