Armida Demiglio

DeMiglio, Armida nee: Vigna, age 91, of Paramus, on Wednesday August 21, 2024. She was born in Italy and came to the United States in 1947 with her mother and her brother, finally reuniting with her father whom she had not seen in over a decade.  She worked as a seamstress for Evan-Picone.  Armida met her future husband, Joseph at a wedding where he spotted her across the dance floor wearing a green dress that matched her eyes.  They were wed in 1957.
Armida and Joe moved their family to Palisades Park, a culture shock of countrified living after the comfort and familiarity of paisanos, family, and good Italian bakeries located  in the Jersey City neighborhood.  Nevertheless, she strapped baby Donna into the stroller, and with 3 children in tow trekked the 12 blocks to and from Broad Avenue. The A & P was adequate for many things, but the so-called Italian bread just did not make the grade.
Armida was an excellent, instinctive cook, spoiling her family with zucchini flower fritters, pastas, fried chicken cutlets, linguini with white clam sauce and her famous chicken alla Genovese, often imitated but never quite perfected by the children. When the grandchildren began arriving, they found it difficult waiting for Poppy to say grace before the meal as the food lay wafting before them.  Her already superb culinary skills were further honed during her 15 year stint working at Alfredo’s with her son and daughter in law.  Armida enjoyed those years very much.
Summertime found her repainting the picnic table annually and picking tomatoes, figs, mint and basil from her garden.  She and Joe bought the house in Barnegat so the grandchildren would have a place to enjoy at the shore.  Still, she cooked big pasta meals on vacation and repainted the deck on Diamond Drive.
During the last two years at Sunrise of Paramus, Armida enjoyed new friendships, new hobbies, breezy porch time, and the relaxation of no longer having to plan meals.  She found contentment there.
Her favorite musical was “The King and I,” a show she saw on Broadway, and which she watched on repeat with her grandchildren.
Armida was predeceased by her loving parents, Alfonso and Angelina Vigna. She was the cherished wife of the late Joseph DeMiglio. Devoted mother of Julia Bazaz and her husband Robert, Donna Natale and her husband Peter, Anthony DeMiglio and his wife Lisa. Cherished grandmother of Sara, Joelle,  Peter, Gabriella, Alexa, and Joseph. Loving great grandmother of 7. Dear sister of Adolfo Vigna. She will also be missed by family, friends, and neighbors.
The family will receive their friends on Sunday 3:00 – 7:00 PM at the Frank A. Patti and Kenneth Mikatarian Funeral Home 327 Main Street “opposite the Fort Lee Library”.  The funeral will leave Monday at 9:30 AM for the celebration of her funeral mass in St. Michael’s R.C. Church at 10:00 AM.   For condolences, directions, or information www.frankpatti.com or call (201) 944-0100.

Instead of flowers, the family requests a donation to either of her favorite charities,
Wings of Refuge, 94 Prospect St., Ramsey, NJ 07446, website: www.wingsofrefugehaiti.com, or Salesian Missions, 2 Lefevre Lane, New Rochelle, NY 10801,  both charities care for children in underserved places.