Josephine K. Crescenti
Born January 2, 1929 in Brooklyn, New YorkPassed October 1, 2024 in Melbourne, Florida
Josephine (“Jerri”) K. Crescenti, affectionately known as Jerri, was born on January 2, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York, and passed away on October 1, 2024 in Melbourne, Florida.
She was the fifth of nine children born to Angelo and Mary Papiro, who migrated to Brooklyn from Sicily after the birth of their first child, Katherine. Josephine graduated from Maxwell High School and also attended vocational school to study “beauty culture,” as it was known in those days. Jerri apprenticed in beauty parlors starting at age 14, eventually becoming a skilled beauty operator. She also shared her passion for the craft with others by teaching beauty culture in the same vocational school she had attended in Brooklyn.
In 1950, Jerri married her adoring husband of 51 years, Vito Crescenti, and they were blessed with two children, Peter and Marie. Jerri continued to cut and style hair in her Brooklyn apartment and by making house calls. The Crescenti family lived in Brooklyn until moving to Brightwaters, Long Island in 1965, where Jerri started a new career at AIL in Deer Park, New York. After retiring, Jerri and Vito moved east on Long Island to East Quogue and also started life as snowbirds to Florida. In 1984, they purchased a condominium in Melbourne, Florida with a view of the ocean that brought them much happiness and contentment. Jerri continued life as a snowbird even after the death of her beloved husband Vito in 2001. In 2013, Jerri moved from New York to her condo in Melbourne full-time, where she resided until her passing on October 1, 2024.
Jerri was a wonderful mother and mother-in law to her faithful son Peter Crescenti and devoted daughter Marie Summers, and their spouses Dawn and George. Jerri deeply loved and cherished her granddaughter, Brooke Elizabeth Bulan, and grandson-in-law, Liam Bulan, and her grandson, Isaac Samuel Summers. Jerri’s children and grandchildren were a constant source of joy in her life, and she will be greatly missed by them. Anthony and Marie Papiro of Glen Head, New York, are her surviving and beloved brother and sister-in-law, and Stanley Urbanowski of North Babylon is her surviving and beloved brother-in-law. Aunt Jerri had many special nieces, nephews and great-nieces and nephews who were a blessing to her.
In 1975, Jerri gave her heart to Jesus Christ and became born again by the Spirit of God. Her life was never the same again. She openly shared her faith, and served as a chaplain in Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, New York. In Melbourne, Jerri was a member of Living Waters Church, led by her anointed pastor, Kenneth Ellison, and his caring wife Karen. If Jerri were here today, she would touch your life with these words: “Showers of blessings as you go forward.”
Jerri was defined by her love of family and love of the Lord, her patriotism, her joyful, exuberant nature, her glamour, and her delicious cooking. She will be forever loved.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, October 9, from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm at O’Connell-Rothwell Funeral Home, located at 30 Little Plains Road, Southampton, New York. Interment will immediately follow at Southampton Cemetery in Southampton.
If you would like to honor Jerri’s memory with a donation, we recommend Samaritan’s Purse: