Ann LaBella Orefice, 85, of Bradley Beach, NJ, formerly of Bronxville, NY died Friday, August 26, 2016 at the Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune. Born in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Ann was a graduate of Cathedral High School. She spent her early career working for Macy’s Herald Square alongside her sisters and father. Ann married John A Orefice, Sr. in April of 1953. They raised their family in the Bronx and Bronxville, NY before retiring to Bradley Beach in 1992. Ann and John enjoyed a wonderful 52 year marriage until his passing in 2005.
Ann enjoyed celebrating holidays and special occasions and was known for cooking Italian specialties and entertaining her large extended family with great flair. She loved to shop and find just the right gift for relatives and friends alike, and enjoyed delighting her grandnieces and nephews and neighbors’ children with special treats each holiday. She took great pride in the accomplishments of her children and, more recently, her grandchildren, who brought her so much joy.
Ann is survived by her five children: John, Jr and his wife Jeanne (Mitchell) of Atlantic Highlands, NJ; Janice and her husband Tom Dehn of Wilton, CT; Christopher and his wife Jeannine (Lettiere) of Eastchester, NY; Stuart of Bradley Beach, NJ; Thea and her husband Michael Pace of Marlboro, NJ; ten grandchildren: Joanna Mitchell Orefice; Christopher Dehn, Nicholas Dehn, Dominique Orefice, Peter Orefice, Christopher Pace, Amanda Pace, Alexander Pace, Samuel Pace and Benjamin Wunderlich and his wife Blair (Leake) and one great-grandchild, Elizabeth Gaines Wunderlich; a sister, Eleanor Calangelo of Manchester, NJ; sister-in-law Norma Orefice of Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ; brother- and sister-in-law Kenneth and Geraldine Orefice of Wall, NJ; and many wonderful and loving cousins, nieces and nephews, grand nieces and nephews, and lifelong friends.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend the visitation on Tuesday from 2-4pm and 7-9pm at the O’Brien Funeral Home, 2028 Hwy 35 at New Bedford Rd., Wall, NJ 07719 followed by a Mass of Christian Burial on Wednesday, August 31, 2016 at 10:00am at the Church of the Ascension, 501 Brinley Ave., Bradley Beach, NJ 07720. Entombment will be in St. Catharine’s Mausoleum, Sea Girt.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made in Ann’s name to the Bradley Beach Food Pantry, 605 4th Ave., Bradley Beach, NJ 07720. (bradleyfood pantry.org)

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