Anthony (Antonino) Bambina, 84, passed away peacefully in the company of his family on Sunday, March 19th, 2023 (Saint Joseph’s Day), days shy of his 85th birthday. Anthony was born on March 21st, 1938 in Castellammare Del Golfo, Sicily to Leonardo and Giovanna Bambina (Maranzano). He is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 59+ years, Cristina (Crociata), his children Leonard (Christina) of Darien, CT, and Joanne (Bob) Markano of New Jersey. He is also survived by his loving grandchildren, Juliana, Sofia and Mateo Bambina. In addition, he is survived by his brother Antonio Bambina in Brooklyn and Maria Suppa (Bambina) in Castellammare Del Golfo, Sicily.

Anthony immigrated to the United States in 1962, settling in Brooklyn and married the woman he had fallen in love with while in Castellammare Del Golfo, on October 13th, 1963. Together Anthony & Cristina raised a family in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn before moving to Staten Island in 1989.

Anthony worked in the construction industry his whole career. He was a member of Local 79. He was very skilled in his profession and was someone that builders could count on the get the job done well and correctly. He was master at everything that was required to be done on the job site. Despite not having an education in the US, he learned to read blueprints, provided advice on the job sites and corrected mistakes made by engineers in the planning for commercial buildings. Anthony would love to show his children which houses / commercial buildings he had a hand in building in the five boroughs. In addition, Anthony was very handy. He learned how to do just about everything that was needed to keep a house up and running. He was able to teach himself and learn from his mistakes, which he never repeated.

Anthony was devoted to his family and worked hard to provide for them. Anthony was very devoted to his heritage and culture. He brought with him many customs from Sicily that he was raised with. Gardening was something he loved to do. Each year he would prepare the soil for the upcoming season, bring in fertilizer and plant the seeds for various vegetables, especially eggplant and cucuzza. These vegetables made it into every dish his wife Cristina would cook for the family. As he got older, he was blessed to have the help of friends and relatives to help him get the garden ready. He would spend hours every day watering the plants, cultivating what was ripe and starting the process all over until the weather started getting colder. He was also very proud of his fig trees and the quality and quantity that those trees produced. Just as important to him was protecting the fig trees in the winter so that they could reproduce the following year.

Anthony proudly made tomato sauce annually. Along with his wife, and children (especially after his grandchildren were born), there would be an assembly line in the sauce making process that Anthony would oversee. This always led to a successful production of homemade sauce along with an abundance of supply that would last for over a year. As much as Anthony loved making sauce, he mostly loved giving jars of sauce away to family and friends. Anthony also loved making fresh ricotta. Despite how labor intensive this process was, he enjoyed making it as everyone loved the finished product, especially when they could take home some extra ricotta.

Another part of Anthony’s Sicilian culture that he maintained in the US was his membership to the Castellammare Del Golfo Social club in Brooklyn. Anthony loved going there on Friday nights and Sunday mornings to hang out with friends and relatives, and especially to play Sicilian card games. His favorite game was briscola in cinque. In addition to spending time with family and friends at the social club, Anthony participated in special events held by the club that honored important saint days, for example Saint Joseph’s day (enjoying sfinci with ricotta, pasta con le sarde) and he was always very proud to march in the procession for the patron saint of Castellammare Del Golfo, Maria Santissima Del Soccorso, that occurred every August.

Anthony was respectful to everyone he met and they in turn, respected him back. He was loyal, would do anything to help and had a great heart. He was someone that left an impression and will be sorely missed by those that knew him.

Services:
The family will receive visitors from 2-4 pm and 6-9 pm on Thursday, March 23rd at Scarpaci Funeral Home, 6389 Amboy Road, Staten Island, NY 10309. A mass of Christian burial will take place at 10:30 am on Friday, March 24th at the Church of Saint Thomas, 6097 Amboy Road, Staten Island, NY 10309. Interment will be at Saint John’s Cemetery in Queens.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Calvary Hospital, 1740 Eastchester Road, Bronx, NY 10461.