Lucille Bitondo
Lucille "Lu" Bitondo (nee Danna), died peacefully at her home in Southport, Maine on April 7, 2025, at the age of 95. Lucille was a Jersey City native who settled and raised her family in Cliffside Park.
Warm, generous, and fiercely independent, Lu always blazed her own path and opened her home to generations of neighbors and friends. She played sports in her youth and later coached basketball and cheerleading for Epiphany Church CYO. "Miss Lucille" worked as a lunch and teacher's aide and had a remarkable impact on the school #6 community for over 30 years.
After retiring at the age of 90, Lu was a fixture in the bingo hall and bocce court of the Cliffside Park Senior Center. Always up for a challenge, Lu's recent adventures included relocating to her daughter Mary and son-in-law Tim's home in Maine, where she continued to make friends everywhere she went, and teaching her great-grandchild how to play basketball. She was an avid reader who loved the ocean, music, and spending time with her family.
Lu was the beloved wife of the late Michael F. Bitondo and the "Spitfire" younger sister of the late Jessamine Williams, Alfred D’Anna, and Evelyn Caldarola. Lu's inspiration will live on through her children - Michele Kappenman of Lincoln, Rhode Island, Michael (Brenda) Bitondo of Elkton, Maryland, Mary (Tim) Hanley of Southport, grandchildren John, Emily, and Jessica, great-grandchildren Jude and Alexander, and the many cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, and community members whose lives she touched.
A celebration of life will be planned for later this year - date and location TBD.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Lucille's memory to St. Jude's Children's Hospital.
Arrangements are under the care and direction of Hall Funeral Home and Cremation Services. To share a condolence or memory with the Bitondo family, visit Lu’s Book of Memories at www.hallfuneralhomes.com.