Obituary of Mary A. Pennino

Mary (Porpora) Pennino, 93, a co-business owner and loving wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother died March 21, 2016 in Huntington Hospital. Mary and her husband Albert Pennino owned and operated Island Power Tools on West Jericho Turnpike for nearly thirty years. Previously, the couple had worked at Grumman, but in 1953 they took a leap of faith. Albert fixed up a small trailer, put it out on the curb with a sign that said “rent me.” This led to decades of hard work, sacrifice and a successful business. Growing up in the Bronx on Prospect Avenue, Mary was the youngest child of Italian immigrants Gregorio (nicknamed Leo because he was strong as a lion) and Maddalena Porpora. She and her siblings worked hard at their father’s block-long food store on Westchester Avenue, a predecessor to the modern supermarket. They sold everything from fruits and vegetables, to fish and meat, and even Christmas trees. In the summers, Mary would visit her Uncle Gasper in South Huntington, who lent the upstairs of a house to six the Pennino brothers, including Albert. When Al -- who was one year older -- used to see Mary coming, he would joke, “Uh, oh. Here comes the bad weather.” But, a friendship began when Mary and Al both had a bad case of poison ivy. She looked miserably out her window; he looked out his and they spotted each other: covered in calamine lotion. They laughed. Over the years, they sent letters and pictures to each other -- Mary holding a puppy; Albert pole vaulting, doing handstands or playing basketball. One summer night when the moon was full, they drove home from a dance in Bayville. Albert proclaimed, “Mary, I’m going to marry you.” She told him “that was the moon talking.” He kissed her and it was love. Their 73-year marriage began on May 17, 1942 at St. Roch’s Church in the Bronx. After the wedding, she and Albert settled on Long Island. Her son remembers Mary as a loving and doting mother who helped shape his faith and views. She was also a force to be reckoned with. “I called her Mameluke,” said Anthony Pennino, a retired Social Studies teacher at Half Hollow Hills West HIgh School. “The Mameluke Tribe were the only people who stopped Genghis Kahn’s grandson from taking over North Africa.” She had a way of lovingly inserting herself into his life, he explained. After an incident at school, she marched in and made the principal cry. She also introduced Anthony to his wife-to-be. Devoted to her Catholic faith, in the 1960s, Mary was part of a Marian prayer group called the Blue Army where she met her future daughter-in-law, Charlene Gregorich. “She was the rock of the family,” said Charlene. She was kind to everyone. When the sound of her diesel Volkswagen Rabbit purred into the driveway, grandchildren and neighborhood kids lined up for kisses -- real ones and chocolate. Cats rubbed on her legs for a can of food. “She was everyone’s second mom and grandma. Her smile was infectious which led to so many people loving her.” “Her house always smelled like roast beef from all the Sunday dinners she hosted while we were growing up,” said her granddaughter, Maddalena Smith. “It was a special time. The grandkids would run around while Dad played ‘Fascination’ on the piano. Grandma would sing us songs like ‘Bushel and a Peck’ and ‘Honey’ and then swing the kids around until she was dizzy. There were loud political discussions over the sound of grandpa’s golf game on TV. Every meal would end with a bowl of ice cream -- if we finished our dinner, of course!” “She always marveled at how blest she was,” said Maddalena. Like praying on a rosary, she would count her family members on her fingers. “‘From one son, I got a daughter, four grandchildren and their spouses and seven great grandchildren. I’m the luckiest person in the world,’ she would say. But really, we were the ones who were blessed.” Mary was one of the early members of the Conservative Party in New York State, enlisting the help of her son, nieces and nephews to stuff mailboxes with brochures of her favorite candidate. She was also an active volunteer at Holy Name of Jesus Church in Woodbury as an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharistic and brought weekly Holy Communion to residents of White Oaks Nursing Home. In 1982, Mary and Albert retired to enjoy a quiet life on their wooded property in Huntington, enjoying the wildlife: birds, fox and adopted cats. They had a special love for raccoons. (Years ago, her husband Al rescued two baby raccoons. He told Mary he was bringing home puppies; he knew that when she saw them -- she would fall in love and care for them. The two raccoons -- Spooky and Lovable -- became part of the family until they were released.) She was predeceased by her parents, her sister Caroline Puliatti and her brother Frank Porpora. She is survived by her husband Albert and her sister Anna Pisacano; her son Anthony Pennino and his wife Charlene. She was grandmother to Albert and his wife Kim; Maddalena and her husband Brian Smith; Anthony and his wife Alison and John. She was blessed with seven great grandchildren: David, Matthew, Liam, Riley, Rory, Jonah and Clare. A wake will be held on Monday 3/28 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at M.A. Connell Funeral Home in Huntington. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Holy Name of Jesus in Woodbury on Tuesday, 3/29 at 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.