Obituary of Macrino Bonaparte

Ettore Macrino Bonaparte was born June 1, 1926, in Brooklyn, New York, to Immacolata Piscioneri Bonaparte and Macrino Bonaparte, both expert tailors from Placanica, Italy, in the Region of Calabria. He grew up with three older brothers, Joseph (Joe), Napoleon (Nick), and Mario, and a younger sister Gilda. He was also close to his mother's sister, Aunt Mary, her husband Bruno Niutta, and their two children, his cousins Nicholas (Nicki) and Carmella. His parents ran a tailor shop until his father Macrino died suddenly of pneumonia in 1928. It was a great loss for the family. His mother continued to sew professionally and for the family. Though poor, the children were all well dressed and mistaken for affluent by the school when applying for aid. Renamed "Otto" in grade school by a teacher, he excelled in all subjects and sports. He drew such an anatomically correct horse one day that he was nicknamed Michelangelo. He was a strong, lead player on his high school's football team, helping to win many games for the team. At 19, Otto joined the U.S. Army Air Force, in 1945, at the end of World War II. In boot camp, while some struggled with pushups, Otto did his on one arm. He rose to Sergeant and was in charge of the "Parachute Shack," while stationed in France. In addition to losing his Dad, a great sadness in his life was losing his beloved cousin Nicki in World War II, as well as most of the neighborhood boys just a year or so older who went to fight. Otto went to college on the GI bill. As a college student at Saint Johns University, a fellow pre-law student and friend, Don Vitali, asked Otto to help him work on his wooden sailboat, on City Island, New York, and so began Otto's lifelong love affair with boats and sailing. Otto went on to Brooklyn Law School, due to its professors and good reputation, and where he had friends. He lived at home and continued to enjoy his mother's Italian cooking and his large, warm family. Otto's first work as a lawyer was in private practice, handling torts, negligence and injury law suits, and criminal defense. Most interesting to him was helping an off-Broadway theater group get a lease for the Sullivan Street Playhouse. When the theater group was losing money on its productions, despite good ticket sales, Otto and fellow lawyer Lenny Adler took the lease on the theater to help them survive. Otto and Lenny eventually got out of the lease and their co-ownership of the production company, helping the company negotiate a low-budget lease with the landlord. The company went on to produce the wildly successful The Fantasticks. Through his theater work, Otto became good friends with the actor/director/producer David Brooks and his girlfriend Lee, who managed the Sullivan Street Playhouse, and the modern dancer/choreographer/teacher/author Daniel Nagrin, whom Lee later married. While in private practice, Otto was asked by a lawyer with the New York City government if he was interested in working for the City of New York. He took the position as Assistant Corporation Counsel of the Law Department for the City of New York. There was more than one Assistant and a lot of legal work to be done on a new program for the City, to prosecute slum landlords. Otto was efficient getting his own work done and was successful prosecuting cases. He offered to help other Assistants and thus learned more. Otto tried cases in all the boroughs of New York City. At this time the City had a lot of new low-income multiple-dwelling units and the City had been empowered to take slum lords to court to force them to pay to maintain the buildings or lose their property. Otto successfully prosecuted case after case, thereby improving the lives of thousands of tenants in low-income rental units and distinguishing himself professionally. Thus, when the General Counsel of the Department of Real Estate of the New York City Housing Authority resigned, Otto got a call and was asked to consider taking the job. He took the job and went on to become Deputy Counsel and General Counsel of the New York City Housing Authority. Otto's work for the New York City Housing Authority spanned 10 years. His work on urban development and redevelopment and safe affordable housing earned him respect and/or accolades from many he worked with, including Councilman, later Mayor, Ed Koch; New York City's Mayor Lindsey; and New York's future Mayor and Governor Mario Cuomo. Otto went on to work as Counsel and Deputy Director of New York City Public Development Corporation and Vice President and General Counsel for Connecticut Housing and Finance. In his later years of public service, Otto particularly enjoyed his work creating funding for large-scale development projects. Otto met his wife Carmen Josephine Gomez on a blind date in 1958. They were married May 17, 1959. Their daughter Lisa Jo was born August 25, 1960, and their daughter Pia Donna was born April 19, 1963. Otto and Carmen bought their first home on Staten Island, New York, in 1963. Otto built a wall and landscaped the back yard and bought his first sailboat, the PiaLisa. The family enjoyed living a few miles from Otto's sister Gilda, her family, and his mother. In 1969, the family moved to Riverside, Connecticut, up the street from Otto's brother Mario and his family. In 1976, Otto moved to the planned water-front community Dolphin Cove in Stamford, CT, building a colonial style house and keeping his sailboat at a dock in his backyard. In 1983, the family relocated to Essex, CT, on the Connecticut River, a place the family had visited on sailing vacations. Otto added on to the house in Essex, building rooms and staircases, including a library for himself and an art studio for his wife, Carmen. Otto retired in 1989 and devoted time to building and maintaining a large garden, with a wall, shrubbery, orchard, and continued... 1 2 Next ...continued fountain, as well as to maintaining and sailing his boat and entertaining family and friends with his wife Carmen. Otto was always ready to help or advise neighbors and friends on their own building and landscaping projects or legal questions. As one neighbor and friend put it, "I never knew anyone who knew so much about so much." Otto had an ability to remember and apply scientific principles he learned in grade school. He was a true Renaissance man. Through the years, the family took many sailing vacations, traveling along the shores of Long Island Sound, sailing through The Race to Block Island many times, as well as Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Otto's knowledge of navigation and safety kept his family safe on the sailboat, even during storms. On April 7, 1993, his daughter Lisa gave birth to his first and only grandchild, Rachel Lee Anderson. Otto took delight in his granddaughter and taking short family trips with her, to Mystic Seaport or the museums of Newport Rhode Island or to see family in New Hampshire. He proudly attended her high school graduation and her college graduation celebration. He supported her in working abroad in France and has advised her, now back at age 23, to find herself a good job. Otto enjoyed laughing at his daughters' comedic skits when young and was proud of his daughters' accomplishments as adults, always attending graduations, even Lisa's graduation in 2013, receiving a Master of Library Science. He greatly appreciated his daughter Pia's talents as a nurse during his illness. In May 2012 Otto traveled to his parents' home country, Italy, with his two older brothers, Nick and Mario, to visit with a first cousin in Ravenna and tour the country, traveling to his mother's home town in Placanica, in the region of Calabria. He valued the rich experience. While Otto traveled to places such as England and Russia professionally; saw France and Germany at the end of World War II; and toured the Virgin Islands, Italy, and Spain with his wife Carmen, he had a talent for being in the moment and enjoying everyday life, whether grilling dinner for the family, watching his favorite sports teams on TV, such as the UCONN Women's Basketball team, or reading American history and biography while enjoying listening to jazz music in his library. Though he had a brilliant career, he didn't talk about it much. Though he achieved a lot, he valued the pleasures of ordinary life and family and the adventure of being out on the water. In his humility, integrity, hard work, wisdom, and calm, he was a consistent model, and he remains revered and beloved by many family members and friends. Otto fought against lymphoma for 6 months and passed away in his beloved home of 33 years in Essex, CT, on August 23. He is survived by his devoted older brothers Napoleon (Nick) Bonaparte and Mario Bonaparte and younger sister Gilda Pizzimenti, his loving wife Carmen Gomez Bonaparte, his devoted daughters Lisa Bonaparte and Pia Bonaparte, his loving granddaughter Rachel Lee Anderson, his brothers-in-law Joseph Gomez and Luis Daniel Gomez, first cousins Carmella Martino and Ugo Schirripa, many other cousins, in addition to numerous loving nieces, nephews, great nieces, and great nephews, and many beloved friends and neighbors, including his loving and devoted friend and neighbor Tom Casey. Visitation will be held at the Robinson, Wright & Weymer Funeral Home, 34 Main Street in Centerbrook on Saturday, August 27th from 11:00AM to 12:00PM. His funeral service will follow in the funeral home chapel. The rendering of Full Military Honors will be conferred on the funeral home grounds following the service. Interment services will be privately held by his family. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions in his name may be made to the Disabled American Veterans, 3725 Alexandria Pike, Cold Spring, KY 41076. To share a memory of Otto or send a condolence to his family please visit www.rwwfh.com . Previous 1 2