Dolores Furnari's Obituary
Dolores Mercedes Furnari of Lutz Fl passed away on September 10, 2024.
Born on December 8, 1931, in Rome Georgia, she relocated to New York in 1936 to live with and be raised by her aunt Mercedes Gonzalez. There, she grew up with Carla Ruff with whom she remained close friends her entire life.
She was an ambitious student who graduated high school in 3 years as well as an accomplished athlete who played basketball and volleyball. She met and married her husband Michaelangelo Furnari in New York City, and they raised their family together after relocating from Manhattan to Astoria Queens.
She instilled in all of her children a deep love of reading and the arts as well as a strong Catholic faith. She relied on this faith when, several years after being widowed in 1976, she bravely chose to relocate to suburban Washington DC to raise her youngest child, Michael.
After working as an office manager at trade associations, she moved to work as a legal assistant at Weil Gotshal & Manges and later Greenberg Traurig, where she worked until the age of 86.
In 2021 she relocated to the Tampa FL area where she was a parishioner of St Timothys Catholic Church and enjoyed spending every Sunday with her son Michael and his wife Terri as well as her grandchildren. It was at Sunday dinner where she would indulge her love for wine, after-dinner Limoncello as well as her legendary sweet tooth.
She leaves behind an inspiring legacy for any single parent household. Her greatest joy was the success her children and grandchildren achieved as a direct result of her lifelong devotion to family, work ethic and faith.
She is survived by her three children Michael Furnari, Marie Joy Richardson and Jack Furnari, daughters-in-law Terri Furnari and Emerald Furnari as well as grandchildren Michaelangelo Furnari, Anthony Furnari, Michael Furnari and Nicole Richardson. She is preceded in death by her husband Michaelangelo Furnari and granddaughter Cassandra Richardson.
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