Obituary of Joseph Totino
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Joseph Totino, 72, on June, 13, 2018. A lover of food, wine, literature and the arts, he loved openly and unconditionally and devoted himself wholeheartedly to his greatest accomplishment and joy, his family.
Born on January 12, 1946 in Gioiosa Ionica, Calabria to Angela (Palermo) and Luigi Totino, he emigrated to the United States at the age of 14. He graduated from New Utrecht High School and later attended City College, from which he earned several undergraduate and masters degrees, while working full-time on Wall Street.
A proud American, he served in the National Guard and spoke often of the freedoms and unending opportunities for education that this country afforded him. A teacher of foreign languages and literature, his greatest professional fulfillment was the time he spent teaching English as a Second Language to hundreds of adult immigrants, whose assimilation process he knew from first-hand experience was an equally hopeful and intimidating journey.
Joseph was a loving and devoted husband to his best friend and wife of 43 years, Marinella. He was a proud and adoring father to Angela (Scott Epstein) and Louis (Kate), and a doting Nonno to his cherished grandchildren, Noelle, Emilia, Caitlin and Thomas Joseph.
In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations in his memory be made to Weill Cornell’s Leukemia Fighters, a charity created by those who treated him with brilliance and empathy in his final months.
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