Elena P. Spadorcia

January 8, 1937 - July 18, 2018

Elena (Pizzoferrato) Spadorcia, age 81, passed peacefully on Wednesday, July 18, at her home in Rocky Hill, CT. Born January 8, 1937 in Pratola Peligna province of L’Aquila, Italy, to the late Raffaele and Emilia (Santilli) Pizzoferrato, Elena came to this country in 1948, landing at Ellis Island at the age of 11 along with her 13-year-old brother Antonio. Elena attended local Hartford schools, and worked first in the tobacco fields, then as a cashier at Woolworth’s ‘five & dime’ on Main Street in Hartford, and finally at the Travelers Insurance Company before remaining at home to raise her family. In 1957 she met and married the late James John (Sonny) Spadorcia with whom she spent 60 years happily married before his passing. In addition to her husband, Elena was predeceased by her daughter Doreen Spadorcia, her three brothers, John, Antonio, and Ermondo Pizzoferrato, and her two sisters, Maria Carducci and Catherine DeStefano. She is survived by daughter Donna and husband Michael Giuffrida, son James Spadorcia, daughter Marie and husband Sal Lonero, and son-in-law Rick Cavo. She is also survived by her eleven loving grandchildren, each of whom meant a great deal to her: Emily (Calitri) and Elena (Ridenour), Jeffrey, Brian, Scott and Laura (Giuffrida), Amanda and Alison (Spadorcia), and Stefen, Damon and Sal (Lonero), all of whom spent many years under her watchful eye and loving care. Also surviving her are sisters-in-law Dina Pizzoferrato, Licia Pizzoferrato, Anna Bentancourt, and many nephews and nieces. The family wishes to thank Dina for all of the special care and attention she provided to Elena. Elena was a kind and generous person who always had a smile on her face, opened her door to all and made friends no matter where she was. She found pride and joy in her family. Well known for hosting family get-togethers at holidays, Elena took great pleasure in preparing and serving bountiful meals of countless courses to all who would gather at her home, each leaving at the end of the day with generous amounts of leftovers. Elena loved gardening, had developed an unbelievable green thumb early in life, and over the years raised beautiful plants, vegetables, garlic, herbs, and figs, all of which she happily shared. She had a prize ‘tree-like’ bay leaf plant that yielded thousands of that herb’s leaves. Elena took pleasure in taking many casino trips with her family and friends. She was a long-time member of the Rocky Hill Seniors where she always enjoyed Friday gatherings. She also enjoyed her Wednesday lunches with close friends Lillian Mills, Shirley LaCava, Lillian Cuoto, Rosemarie Gerdo, Doris Brown, Angie Newhouse and sister-in-law Dina. Services will be private with arrangements handled by the Rose Hill Funeral Home. For those who wish to do so, the family suggests donations be made in memory of Elena Spadorcia to Make-A-Wish America, Gift Processing, 1702 East Highland Avenue, Suite 400 Phoenix, AZ 85016.