Philomena C. Falcone

AUBURN — Philomena C. Falcone, 90, of Auburn passed away peacefully early Saturday morning on Sept. 8,2018 at St. Joseph’s Hospital after a brief illness.

She was born in Auburn, the daughter of the late Peter and Claudina Gelsi DeBenedetto and had been a life resident. "Mena" or "Philly" as she was affectionately known by her family and friends was a West High School graduate, class of 1946. Philomena was a very devout Catholic and longtime communicant of St. Francis of Assisi Church. She retired from the former General Electric Company after more than 20 years of service. She was an excellent cook and baker, especially her famous pizza, coffee royale and delicious cobbler pies, to name a few. She also enjoyed an occasional trip to one of our local casinos, where she could often be found donating her money. Mena, above everything else, cherished the times spent with her family and will be sadly missed by all of them.

She is survived by her three loving children, daughters Claudia (John) Carnicelli and Nancy (William) Maffei all of Auburn; son Richard Falcone of Myrtle Beach; nine grandchildren Carrie (Michael) Calarco, Sara Stoker, Michael (Yanira) Stoker, Samuel Carnicelli, Dominick Carnicelli, Leanna (John) Colvin, Leslie (Erik) Tinti, Emily Maffei, Lucas Maffei; three great-grandchildren Michael and Angelo Calarco and Mena Tinti; two sisters-in-law Nancy Ciampi and Eleanor DeBenedetto; two brothers-in-law Anthony "Junior" Falcone and Angelo Falcone, as well as several nieces, nephews and cousins.

In addition to her parents, Philomena was predeceased by her husband Peter in 2014, and two brothers Anthony ‘"Totsy" and Dominick DeBenedetto.

There are no calling hours as were Philomena’s wishes. Friends and relatives are invited to join the family Wednesday at 9:45 a.m. in St. Francis of Assisi Church for her Mass of Christian burial. Interment will follow in St. Joseph’s Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her memory to either St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital or the Golisano Children’s Hospital.

The family would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to Becky, Mary and Liz for their exceptional care of Philomena. A special thank you to Jessie Corcoran, whose extra loving care and compassion went above and beyond her call of duty. No words can express our gratitude to you.

Arrangements are by Pettigrass Funeral Home. To leave any online condolences, please visit pettigrassfuneralhome.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Philomena C. Falcone, please visit our floral store.