Antoinette Grippi passed away peacefully with family by her side on March 18, 2022. Born July 6, 1923, Antoinette grew up in mid-town Manhattan with her family who entered Ellis Island. Her father died when she was nine years old, and was raised by a strong single mom who had two son and three daughters, including Antoinette. Antoinette Schera was the youngest and only child to attend high school, working in Bloomingdales, where her love of fashion began.
Eventually meeting her husband, John, Grippi, who lived only two blocks away, they courted and wrote daily love letters to each other during his years overseas in WW II.
They married and moved to New Jersey, with their son, John, and had two daughters, Ann Marie and Dianne. Antoinette and John drove together to New York City for many years where Antoinette worked first for Christian Dior and then the Realty Hotels; the Barclay, Biltmore, Commodore and Roosevelt, where she ran the tourism department for groups visiting New York City from all parts of the globe. In a time when women did not have titles or offices, Antoinette had both. Antoinette took her two daughters to Niagara Falls for one of the tours she had arranged, and it was a first flight for all three of them, which sparked their love of travel.
Family gatherings for holidays or just for fun, along with family vacations, to the Jersey Shore, cruises or to a dude ranch, were always filled with laughs and good times. After retirement, Antoinette and John traveled to Europe a number of times, enjoyed their shared love of opera with season tickets, and took cruises. Music was a constant throughout their life together.
Antoinette is pre-deceased by her husband John of 63 years, son Johnny, and brothers and sisters, Sam, Nancy, Rose and Ciro. She is survived by daughters, Ann Marie Grippi (Sander) and Dianne Grippi, grandchildren, Stephen Sander and wife Tori, granddaughter Jessica Faranda and husband Steven, grandchildren Dylan D’Alessandro and James D’Alessandro, great-grandchildren Liesl and Elijah, who will all miss her very much.
Funeral Mass Monday, March 21st, 9:30 AM, St. Mary’s R.C. Church, Dumont. Entombment Calvary Cemetery, Paterson. Visiting Sunday, March 20th, 2-5 PM at the Beaugard-McKnight Funeral Home, 869 Kinderkamack Road, River Edge. Please tell your family how much you love them often, and please contribute to your favorite charity in her name in lieu of flowers.