Giuseppina was born March 20, 1926 in Oratino, Campobasso Italy to Cristina Mastrangelo and Giovanni Melideo, whom passed away on April 16, 1977 and October 2, 1975 respectively. She was the oldest of five. Giuseppina is predeceased by her brothers, Camillo (2005) and Giuseppe (2020). Her first child, Joseph passed away at birth on March 28, 1956.
She left Italy and arrived at the Port of Halifax on July 15, 1954, ending her journey in Port Arthur where she married Bronislaw Sobolewski later that year.
When arriving in Canada, Giuseppina worked on the farm and at various restaurants. Giuseppina then worked at Shaw Bakery for numerous years and in 1970, she got a job working as a cleaner for the Canadian National Railway retiring in 1987.
Upon retiring she enjoyed her leisure life by spending time in her huge garden, giving away a lot of her fresh veggies to friends and her family. She loved to cook and always had her immediate family over for meals and holidays were very important to her. She loved to can tomatoes, pickles, fruit, and loved her asparagus. If there was anything to preserve she did it. Her pizza was amazing and she would use 10 kg of flour and make bread all at once. She would pick up her knitting needles and loved to knit blankets. Her travelling consisted of going to Italy and she enjoyed going to Duluth. She also did the 24 hour Black Friday shopping with her daughter and her kids! When her daughter would call her to go shopping she would respond “I ready.” She wasn’t but she needed ten minutes and was at the door ready to go.
As she got older she wasn’t as active but she loved sitting outside when the weather was warm or cold with a jacket on sitting in the garage (so Italian). Some of her favourite shows were Border Security, I love Lucy, Golden Girls, Lidia’s Kitchen and family shows. Giuseppina loved her bread, pizza, pasta and cookies - her high carb diet ! Her grandchildren meant the world to her and she spent most of her time with them and taking care of them when they were little. She was the BEST NONNA ever.
In September 2016 she had a stroke which set her back but she regained a lot of her mobility and was able to recover and do some of the things she enjoyed. The last few years were hard for her but she managed to survive spending most her time watching tv, sitting outside and loved her visits with her family.
Mom (Nonna) will be sadly missed by her son, Mario and daughter Christine. Her grandchildren John (Crystal) great grandchildren Kyler and Mallory, grandchildren Vanessa, Austin and Olivia. Surviving out of town are her sisters Bambina and Loreta from Italy and numerous nephews, nieces and cousins in Italy and Canada.
The family would like to thank the agencies involved with her as she lived as independent as she could. Thank you to the care she received during her final days.
With the current restrictions in place there will be a by invitation only viewing on Monday, January 25th in the Sargent & Son Funeral Chapel. A private funeral service will be held on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 in the Sargent & Son Chapel with Rev. Victor DeGagne presiding. The entombment will follow in St. Andrew’s Cemetery. When restrictions have lifted, as per Giuseppina’s wishes, there will be a full Funeral Mass at Corpus Christi R.C. Church. On-line condolences may be made at www.sargentandson.com.
