Event Notices

Obituary: Atonietta N. (Colarusso) DeStefano, Founder of Café Paradiso

Atonietta N. (Colarusso) DeStefano of Stoneham passed away peacefully in her home on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at 93 years of age. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, and friend and will be missed by all who knew her.

Antonietta was an accomplished business woman. She was the founder/owner of Café Paradiso in Boston’s North End. She began each day by reading the Italian newspaper and was a teacher in Italy for fourteen years.

Antonietta is the beloved wife of the late Antonio DeStefano. She is the devoted mother of Adriana DeStefano-Federico and her late husband Vincent P. and the late Oscar DeStefano and his surviving wife Rita. She is the cherished grandmother of Katia G. DeStefano and Tania N. DeStefano. Antonietta is the loving daughter of the late Angelo and Marie Colarusso. She is the dear sister of the late Gerado Colarusso, Allessandro Colarusso, James Colarusso, Antonio Colarusso and Maria Colarusso.

A Funeral Mass Celebrating Antonietta’s Eternal Life will be held in Saint Leonard Church, 4 N. Bennet Place, Boston on Friday, April 8, 2016 at 10:00 am. Interment at Holy Cross Cemetery, Malden.

Please honor Antonietta by making donations in her memory to Casit for the Promotion of Italian Languages, 27 Water Street, Wakefield, MA 01880.