Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
January 29, 2006
Death in the Family

My aunt, Sister Philomena Pinto passed away on Friday. We were down in the New Haven area for the wake today. At one point in her career she was stationed in St. Louis in the neighborhood where Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola Sr. grew up. She met both men at various times, making me very jealous. :-)

So we get home, and I call my sister's house, and she asks, "Did you see Yogi's aunt?" It turns out Yogi Berra's aunt is at the convent, and no one told me! With luck, I'll run into her tomorrow at the funeral.

Here's my favorite Sister story. My aunt taught elementary school for many years in The Bronx. Many years later, she hears one of my cousins talking about John Gotti. Sister pipes up with, "Don't you say anything bad about John Gotti. He's a wonderful man." It turns out that the convent hired a painter and paid him up front. He worked for one day and didn't come back, leaving the place a mess. Gotti walks in (I can't remember if he was going to church or taking his kids to school) and asks, "Sisters, what happened here." The nuns told him the story and asked Gotti to pray for them. Mr. Gotti agreed to pray for them. The next day the painter shows up, gives them back all the money and finishes the jobs. And my aunt thinks Gotti's prayers were responsible.

She was a good woman and lived to a ripe old age. I'm sure she'll rest in peace.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:31 PM | Deaths | TrackBack (0)
Comments

My condolences. Your family will be in my prayers.

-Nate

Posted by: Nate at January 29, 2006 10:24 PM

Sorry to hear about your loss, David.

Posted by: bbzealot at January 29, 2006 11:00 PM

David,

Sounds like a special person. Sorry to hear of her passing. Only other time I've heard of the name Philomena was my grandmother. Great story about Gotti.

Posted by: LargeBill at January 30, 2006 09:16 AM

My condolences as well. And that is a great story.

Posted by: Crank at January 30, 2006 01:31 PM

Thanks, David, for sharing this with us. So sorry to hear about your aunt but most importantly is as you say, she lived long and was a good person.

Posted by: Gypsy Soul at January 30, 2006 03:41 PM

What a great story. She sounds like a delightful person. Condolences for your lost.

Posted by: high&tight at January 30, 2006 11:41 PM
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