Obituary of Ralph M. Amato

Ralph M. Amato RALPH M. AMATO AGE: 85 ROCKAWAY BORO Ralph M. Amato, 85, of Rockaway Boro, died on Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, at St. Clare's Hospital in Denville. He had been a resident of Rockaway Boro since 1930, moving there from the Bronx, N.Y. Mr. Amato was the owner/ operator of Rockaway Market in Rockaway Boro. He was a member of St. Cecelia's R.C. Church in Rockaway Boro. He was an Army veteran of WWII, serving from 1943 to 1945. During WWII in Europe, Ralph served as a driver to General George Patton. Upon his discharge in 1945, he returned home and joined his father in the family grocery business. He continued to grow the business over the next 50 years into a successful wholesale food distributorship, famously known as The Rockaway Market. He was predeceased by his wife, Rose, in 2007. He is survived by his two children, Frank and wife Laura of Succasunna and Marlene and husband Danny of Jefferson Twp.; one sister, Mary Simard of Rockaway; three grandchildren, Frank, Lindsay, and Danielle. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at Tuttle Funeral Home from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Funeral Services will be on Thursday, Feb. 25 with a 10 a.m. mass at St. Cecilia's R.C. Church. Burial will be in Holy Rood Mausoleum, Morristown, NJ.