Obituary of Anita Alimenti

Anita (Petrini) Alimenti, 96, of East Vineland, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, October 18, 2023 surrounded by her family. She had been in declining health. Anita, or Nita, as she was called by her family and friends was born at Newcomb Hospital in Vineland in 1927. She grew up and lived in Richland until she moved to East Vineland with her husband Alfred in 1958. Nita met her husband Alfred Alimenti, while living in Richland, they were married in 1948 and moved into the family homestead in Richland with her mother-in-law, Amabilia and her father-in-law, Adorno. While helping her family with their poultry business, Nita also worked at the clothing factory in Richland and Newberry's Store in Vineland. In 1953, their poultry business expanded and the family built chicken coops in East Vineland where, in 1958, Nita and Alfred moved into their newly built home and raised 3 children. In 1975, Alfred and Nita added agricultural farming to their business where Nita worked hard for many years. She worked alongside her family in the fields, in the packing room, and she sold the produce at the Vineland Produce Auction. When Nita was not working on the farm, she was helping her family. There are so many wonderful memories of the ways she influenced our lives. She valued the importance of family and Sunday pasta dinners. Nita loved to do jigsaw puzzles and her family often joined her at the kitchen table to finish a particularly difficult one. She loved to crochet and shared this love with her grandchildren and great-children. Nita was an excellent cook and taught us all how to make zuccarini cookies, pasta, ravioli, cream puffs, lemon meringue pies, cakes, baccala, caponata, and many other dishes that we enjoyed as a family at holiday meals or just at the end of a long day after working. But perhaps her greatest source of enjoyment was her flowers. Anita loved to garden. She had flower gardens as a young girl and continued to care for and grow flowers until she was 94 after which time her family took over and planted the flowers for her. We all learned a lot from her about how to make things grow including our love for each other. As Anita's health failed, her memory remained as sharp. She never forgot anything. Anita was able to do some traveling however it was the many winters in Florida that she and Alfred enjoyed that she enjoyed the most. There they made close friends, rode their bicycles, and maintained a small garden. Anita is survived by her son, Raymond and wife Mary (Scarpa); her daughter Carol Panco and husband, Mark; her sisters, Rosemarie "Rosie" Lolli and Maria Bucci; six grandchildren, Anthony, Michael and his wife Colleen (Carrelli), Christopher and his wife Shannon (Cinotti), Susan Flandro, her husband Ryan, Robert Panco and his wife Emily (Ng) and Christina Panco (Jack Lepore). She is also survived by 10 great grandchildren, Julianna, Angelina, Giovanna, Nickolas, Carlo, Isabella, Leah, Reese (Flandro), Jamison (Flandro) and Milana. Anita was predeceased by her husband Alfred and her daughter, Arlene. The Alimenti Family would like to extend a special thank you to Tamar Gusharashivili, Nita's care giver. Also the family would like to thank Dr. Kris Rainear and the 4th floor staff at Inspira who provided comfort and care while she was there. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Edgarton Christian Academy, P.O. Box 646, Newfield, NJ 08344 or to the charity of your choice. A funeral home visitation will be held on Monday, October 23, 2023 from 9am to 11am followed by a funeral service at 11am from Rone Funeral Service, 1110 East Chestnut Avenue, Vineland. Interment will follow in St Mary's Cemetery, 736 Union Road, Vineland. ARRANGEMENTS are under the supervision of Rone Funeral Service, 1110 East Chestnut Avenue, Vineland, NJ 08360. To send online condolences please visit our website at www.RONEFUNERALSERVICE.com