Sylvia Barrasso, (née Moretti) a beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, passed peacefully at her home on May 12, 2024.
Sylvia was predeceased by her husband, Edward, parents Silvio and Jane Moretti, brother Alfred Moretti, sister-in-law Bobbie, and cousins Alan Moretti and Bill Senior.
Sylvia is survived by her son John, her son Michael and wife Laura, and her daughter Michele Palmere and husband Dan. She is the cherished grandmother of Chris, Dana, Alan, John, Nick, Robert, and Katherine; as her family grew, she welcomed Joanna, Emma, Kristen, Travis, Michelle, and Peter with open arms. Sylvia is the proud great-grandmother of Alice, Aubrey, Robin, and Peter. She will be remembered with love by her cousins Jane Senior and Carolyn Moretti as well as by the many nieces and nephews who affectionately call her “Aunt Babe.”
Sylvia graduated from St. Vincent’s Academy in Newark. She and her husband Edward settled in Livingston in 1958 to raise their young family. Shortly after his death in 1974, Sylvia began volunteering at Saint Barnabas Hospital, where she was subsequently hired in the medical library. Sylvia worked for 30 years as a medical librarian, fulfilling the research requests of physicians and nursing staff. She attended training classes at Columbia University on Medline, one of the first online medical search tools, and became an early adopter of computer information technologies.
Sylvia was a founding member of St. Raphael Parish in Livingston. Her faith touched many lives over the years. Sylvia was a member of the Rosary Altar society and helped lead the senior group. She labored tirelessly behind the scenes, at everything from running card parties to hosting social gatherings to being an unofficial generational advisor to new clergy leaders as they joined the parish.
Sylvia was devoted to her family, showing it in deep and abundant ways.An expert baker, her spreads of Christmas cookies, which she began preparing weeks in advance with military precision, will be greatly missed (especially the pignolis). Sylvia’s love lives on and can be felt in every stitch of the beautiful afghan blankets that she hand-knit for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Visitation hours will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15, at Quinn Hopping Funeral Home, at 145 East Mount Pleasant Avenue, Livingston.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, May 16, at St. Raphael Church at 346 East Mount PleasantAvenue, Livingston.
Interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery at 225 Ridgedale Avenue, East Hanover.
At the family’s request, memorial donations may be made to St. Raphael Parish, Livingston.
