Violet Fortuna

March 21, 1923 - October 25, 2018

Violet Fortuna, age 95, originally from Astoria, New York passed away on October 25, 2018. Beloved wife of the late Fred Fortuna. Loving mother of Stephen (Colleen) Fortuna, Julian (Nancy) Fortuna, and Joanne (Vincent) Battista. Cherished grandmother of Jennifer Spindler, Anthony Fortuna, Matthew Spindler, Dominic Fortuna, Vincent Fortuna, Cara Fortuna, and Gloria Fortuna. Caring step-grandmother of Michael Ahern and Laura Ahern. Violet will be remembered as intelligent, fun-loving and strong-willed. She was the last survivor of seven children born to working class immigrants from a small hill town in the Abruzzo region of Italy. She helped care for her older sisters who suffered from a variety of illnesses such as blindness, Down syndrome and childhood diabetes. Violet graduated from Long Island City High School near the top of her class and would no doubt have succeeded in college if she had the opportunity to further her education. In fact, she continually stressed the importance of education to her children and grandchildren all of whom succeeded in college and many of whom have obtained graduate degrees. During World War II, Violet worked as a civil servant for the federal government in a teletype facility sending and receiving messages through various communications channels. After the war, she continued her civil service with the U.S. Postal Service where she chose to work the night shift to tend to her children until she accepted early retirement to spend more time with her growing family. Violet was a modern day family matriarch who will be missed by all who knew her.