Anna Competiello

IN MEMORIUM: ANNA COMPETIELLO (10/26/26 – 11/7/18)

If you were to ask Anna Competiello what was her greatest accomplishment in life, she would say “my two kids”.  My sister Jo-Ann once said to me, “Mommy was made to be a mom”. And indeed, she was a great mother.  She was always there for us growing up.  In addition to keeping an immaculate home and being a great mother and wife, my mom also worked during school hours, while my sister and I were in middle school and high school.  The money she earned was used to help fund our college education.  During my college and medical school, she was the coach and cheerleader for my courses and many exams.  In fact, each of my diplomas should state the following: This diploma would not be possible, without the support and assistance of Mrs.Anna Competiello.

My mother (along with my late father) was also blessed by having three face-to-face meetings with the late Pope John Paul II, who was subsequently canonized as a saint.  These meetings took place two times in 1993 and again in 2000.  In July 1993, after the second Papal meeting, my mother went to San Giovani Rotundo to visit the town, monastery and tomb of Saint Padre Pio.  Moreover, after the third Papal meeting at Castel Gondolfo in June 2000, my mom (along with my late father) traveled to France.  France was the land of my mother’s maternal ancestors.  These ancestors escaped from France and settled in Sicily in 1789, just a short time before the outbreak of the French Revolution.  During their pilgrimage to France, my mother and late father visited the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal in Paris.  They also made a special pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes.

In 1992, my mother and late father visited Italy, the land of their ancestors. My mother was thrilled to visit Sciacca, Sicily, the town where her mother and father were born. There, my mom and late father spent time with my mom’s maternal cousins.

My mother had a long life and she was fortunate to be able to enjoy her two children and two grandchildren, even in the later years of her life.  For a girl born into a poor family from Brooklyn, New York, I am sure that my mother would say that she had a long, full life, with great accomplishments. But most of all, she would say that she was always surrounded by the immediate and extended family that she loved so much.

Louis S. Competiello, M.D.