Obituary of Carmela Barone

Carmela Barone of Warwick, NY, entered into rest on Thursday, March 16, 2017, surrounded by her loving family at home. She was born in Sicily on September 14, 1954. She and her family immigrated to America a few months later, but she always maintained a close connection to her culture and heritage, as well as fluency in the language. She met her husband, Luciano Barone, at an Italian dance in Brooklyn, and moved to Warwick, NY in 1981 after her husband joined the Herbert Kania Pediatric Group. She studied biology in college, leading to her career as a science teacher. Her first post was in East Harlem where she enjoyed the opportunity to teach underprivileged children. This was followed by a position at John S. Burke high school, where her passion for education made her one of the most beloved teachers. When her children were born, she worked part time as a teacher at Kreative Kids Nursery, where again, parents and children loved her. She had a profound appreciation for the humanities, including literature, theology, history, music and art. This inspired her decision seventeen years ago to become a volunteer docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she built on her already immense knowledge of art to a graduate-school level to satisfy the strict requirements of the curators. Her presentations were so impressive that she was asked to become Captain of the Ancient Near East department, allowing her to instruct and organize her fellow volunteers. She persevered through nearly eight years of suffering from her terrible disease, staying strong and selfless even as her debilitating symptoms robbed her of the ability to do the things she had always loved. She is survived by her husband, Lucian; her two children, Vickie and Paul; her sister and brother-in-law, Maria and Frank Sforza, and their daughter, Angela; and her brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Frank and Franca Barone, as well as their daughters, Cori and Katia. Visitation will be held on Sunday, March 19th from 1-3 & 6-8PM at T.S. Purta Funeral Home, 22 Glenmere Avenue, Florida, NY 10921. Celebration of Life will be held 11:00 AM Saturday, April 1st at the Warwick United Methodist Church, 135 Forester Avenue, Warwick, NY 10990. Memorial donations can be made to the Albert Wisner Public Library, 1 McFarland Drive, Warwick, NY 10990, which, through its books and movies, let her travel anywhere, through space and time, reality and fantasy, no matter her physical limitations. Donations can also be made to Hospice of Orange and Sullivan Counties, Inc., 800 Stony Brook Court, Newburgh, NY 12550, which provided exceptional care to Carmela when she needed it the most.