Concetta Mangione Prisco (1921-2020)

A few months shy of her ninety-ninth birthday, Concetta (Mangione) Prisco, grandmother and great-grandmother of Whiting residents, died Monday, May 4, 2020, of COVID-19 complications at Mamaroneck, New York. She had been a resident of the New Jewish Home long term care facility in that Westchester County municipality.

George and Concetta Prisco

Concetta "Connie" was born Maria Concetta Mangione to Liborio and Emma (Arnetta) Mangione, Sicilian immigrants, in Manhattan, New York, on August 5, 1921. (Baptismal records from St. Lucy's Church on East 104th Street place her birth on August 2, 1921.*) Brother Vincent "Sonny" was born in June 1925, and brother Joseph was born four years later. The family's early homes were in Italian East Harlem: first with Liborio's parents Vincenzo and Maria (Capizzi) Mangione at 344 East 105th Street and later at 225 East 108th Street.

1973 passport photo

Her later childhood appears to have been spent with relatives in the Little Italy neighborhood in the Bronx, New York, while her parents and brothers continued to live in Manhattan. Concetta graduated from the Industrial Course of Study of Junior High School No. 45 in the Bronx on January 25, 1938.

Concetta married George M. Prisco, who had been raised in the Mount Eden section of the Bronx and had relatives in East Harlem, on February 3, 1940, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Aldo Carniato, with Alfonso and Antonetta Prisco serving as witnesses.

Concetta's father Liborio died at Manhattan Metropolitan Hospital at the age of fifty-two on May 2, 1942.

Concetta with grandson Thomas Hunt

George and Concetta Prisco lived initially with George's widowed mother (his father Salvatore died in 1924), Carolina Prisco, at 2315 Hughes Avenue in the Bronx. About the time of Carolina's 1942 death, they moved to 3341 Paulding Avenue. In the early 1950s, they moved again to 808 Adee Avenue, their longtime home. They raised their family in a top-floor apartment (6C) of the six-story building, with Concetta's mother Emma Mangione living next door (6C-A). For a time, much of the Prisco-Mangione clan resided in two apartment buildings diagonally across the intersection of Adee Avenue and Matthews Avenue.

In addition to her family responsibilities, Concetta worked outside the home, holding a position with Al's Camera Shop in the Bronx.

Home in New Fairfield

George and Concetta Prisco built a vacation home for themselves in New Fairfield, Connecticut, between Connecticut's Ball Pond and New York's Putnam Lake. It was a long-term project. From modest beginnings, the home expanded dramatically over the years. With their children raised, George and Concetta turned the New Fairfield home into their full-time residence in the late 1970s.

Concetta's mother Emma passed away in August 1978 at the age of eighty-six.

Concetta loved to cook for family and friends ("arancini" rice balls, cream puff pastries, "pignoli" cookies...) and regularly made presents of her latest kitchen creations. She also enjoyed gardening and games of chance. She often hosted family get-togethers and took great interest in her grandchildren (who still recall her singing a rendition of "See Saw, Knock on the Door..."). She was a longtime member of St. Edward the Confessor Church in New Fairfield and the New Fairfield Senior Center.

Following the February 2006 death of her husband, Concetta moved to an apartment off Orchard Street in northern Brookfield, Connecticut.

Carol Andreana, Concetta Prisco, Emma Mangione with Cristina Andreana

She is survived by three daughters - Concetta Hunt (the late Patrick) of Orlando, Florida; Caroline Andreana (Joseph) of Stamford, Connecticut; Emily Schmetterer (Jerry) of New York, New York - and daughters-in-law Marilyn Prisco of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Debby K. Prisco of Bronx, New York. She also is survived by ten grandchildren, residing in Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Vermont; great-grandchildren; nieces and nephews. Her oldest grandson, Thomas Hunt, and his family have been Whiting, Vermont, residents since spring 2012.

In addition to her husband, Concetta was predeceased by her son George, Jr., and her brother Vincent. Her brother Joseph passed away a few days after her death.

Burial was scheduled for May 18, 2020, at St. Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx. Bosak Funeral Home, 453 Shippan Avenue, in Stamford, Connecticut, handled funeral arrangements.


* Confusion on the date reported for her birth could have resulted from the birthdates of her parents. Liborio Mangione's birthday was August 5 and Emma Mangione's was August 2.

Food distribution for residents in need

The Vermont National Guard will be distributing food to area residents in need at Middlebury Airport on Wednesday, May 20, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The distribution effort is a response to hardships caused by Covid-19.

Those wishing to receive the food are instructed to pull their cars up to the airport, 467 Airport Road off Case Street/Highway 116 in Middlebury, and open their car trunks for guard members to load boxes of food. The National Guard requests that you allow plenty of room for the boxes and that you leave pets at home for their safety.

Each household will be given two gallons of milk, two boxes of chicken, one box of vegetables, one box of Cabot cheeses and butter, one box of FEMA boxed meals.

Details are available on the Town of Whiting website.

The schedule of meal distribution around the state is outlined on the Vermont Emergency Management website.

A bit of spring snow

The morning of May 9, 2020, brought a bit of whitening to Whiting - temperatures at the freezing point allowed just enough snow accumulation to be noticeable. By afternoon, the snow had melted away and local fields emerged bright green, while the supposedly-Green Mountains remained snow-covered.

Moment of color, sunrise, April 14

Dark eastern clouds suddenly turned bright pink just before dawn on Tuesday, April 14, 2020. The color lasted only a moment, fading to a soft pinkish gray by sunup.

April 14, 2020, about 6:10 a.m.

WIlson 'Bill' Simonds, 88

Wilson John "Bill" Simonds, 88, passed away at his Whiting home on Sunday, March 29, 2020, according to an April 1 obituary in the Rutland Herald.

Photo from Miller & Ketcham
Funeral Homes, Inc.

Simonds is survived by his wife of fifty-eight years, Grace Baker Simonds, four children, ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Following a private graveside committal service, he was interred at the Whiting Community Cemetery.

Simonds was born in Whiting on December 25, 1931, and grew up in the community, attending local schools. Following 1950 graduation from Brandon High School, he served in the United States Air Force, and then returned home to Whiting.

He married Grace Baker on March 10, 1962. Two years later, the couple purchased the Simonds' sixth-generation family homestead of 130 acres.

Simonds, who retired from Polymers Plastics in Middlebury in 1993, enjoyed hunting, flying, reading and outdoor work. He was a member of Whiting Community Church.

Sunset, March 24, 2020