Margaret C Bernardi

Margaret C. Bernardi, 86, died February 18, 2020, in Rockledge, Florida, at Palm Cottages. She was born October 16, 1933, to Pasquale and Carmela Callerame in Rochester, New York. In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband, Albert, her brothers, Louis and Philip, her sister Josephine; and her grandsons, Andrew and Matthew. She is survived by her brother, August Callerame of Honeoye Falls, New York, her sister, Constance of Twain Harte, California; children, Lisa Wolf (Joel), of Youngsville, North Carolina, Stephen Bernardi (Suzy Mauger), of Maggie Valley, North Carolina, Donna O’Brien (Tim), of Rockledge, Florida, Carol Constance (Rick), of Waynesville, North Carolina and Kathy Womble (Glen), of Melbourne, Florida; 14 grandchildren; ten great grandchildren with two more on the way; many nephews, nieces and cousins, and scores of friends that are part of her extended “family”. Margaret (Marge) grew up the youngest of six children of Sicilian immigrant parents. As a young woman, she worked at NY Bell Telephone as a long-distance operator. She met the love of her life, Al, on a blind date and they were married upon his return from serving in the Army at the end of the Korean War. For the next 14 years, Marge worked as the Chief Operations Officer of the Bernardi Family; raising five children and handling all of the financial affairs for the family and Al’s thriving real estate, construction and development company. In 1969, they had enough of the winters in upstate New York and moved the family to Pompano Beach, Florida. In 1977, when the children were beginning to get married and go off to college, they began construction of “Villamonte”; their summer home on top of a mountain in Maggie Valley, NC. With some help from the children, Al & Marge did everything from mixing concrete, to framing, to electrical wiring to picking up rocks all over the mountain for the walls. In the end, Villamonte was so much more than a house because they built it with their own hands. Villamonte, and its subsequent replacement, Villamonte II were the gathering places for Marge’s everexpanding family. Countless holidays, weddings and summer vacations brought everyone together to enjoy the family that she so lovingly cared for… and to eat her amazing cooking. Marge never had a big cause that she was passionate about. For her, opening her home to everyone and making people feel as if they were part of the family was her mission in life. After caring for Al as Alzheimer’s slowly took him away, she too began the long goodbye that is this cruel disease. Through it all, her loving spirit never wavered… even when she no longer knew who she was, she still opened her heart to all. The lives of everyone she ever met will be forever better because of her. A memorial Mass will be celebrated in the chapel at St Mary Catholic Church, 1136 Seminole Drive, Rockledge, Fl 32955 1:30 pm, Saturday, February 22, 2020. A funeral Mass will be celebrated in Waynesville, NC this summer. Donations in Marge’s name can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at https://act.alz.org/donate