Alma Del Savio, age 92 years, of Raritan Township, NJ, died peacefully at home on Friday, March 26, 2021, surrounded by her beloved family and under the caring watch of Hunterdon Hospice.

Born in Arbon, Switzerland on December 18, 1928, wife of the late Egidio Del Savio and daughter of the late Jakob and Marie Chiari Kaelin, she and her husband emigrated to the United States in 1954 aboard the Andrea Doria with their infant daughter. The young family first resided in the Bronx, NY, and lived there until 1993, when they moved to Raritan Township, NJ.

Growing up in Switzerland, Alma was always outgoing and caring for others. With a quick wit and independent spirit, she loved learning languages and at the time of her passing spoke six: Swiss, English, German, Italian, French and Spanish. Her love of languages is what would shape her entire life, as it was at the age of 19, when she was in a language school learning Italian, where she would meet a young worker from Italy enrolled at the same school studying German. Their teachers thought they could help each other, especially with the young man, named Egidio, being from Italy. The two would meet and the study sessions quickly morphed into the study of the universal language, LOVE. This language is what the couple truly became proficient in, and where they excelled!

In New York, Alma worked as an Executive Assistant with Swissair, where her language skills were very useful. Her work was important and she was appreciated very much by her colleagues, but her work was a means to ensure that her family was well provided for on every level. She loved being a mother to Adriana, who would be joined after they arrived in the United States by a brother, Stephen. Alma and Egidio were there for their family and Alma gave a new meaning to the term matriarch. She did the things many associated with being a mother: cooking, sewing, cleaning, etc. It was not what Alma did though, but rather how she did it, that shaped her persona.

Her heart was overflowing with love at all times, so her cooking was more than her homemade gnocchi (which was of course the best), but it was a way for the family to unite and be together. Her knitting was not just because the family could not afford clothing, but was because she wanted others to feel the love that a family could provide. In true Alma fashion, over the years she continued to sew and knit, especially sweaters and baby clothes, and donate them to the church and various charities to help the community. Her giving heart knew no boundaries.

Her life changed yet again, for the better, as she became a grandmother to her five grandsons-Erich, Keith, Daniel, Stephen, and Brian- who loved and adored her and proudly made her a great grandmother four times over. In response to their love, she solidified her legacy as a teacher who left her impression in their hearts by her loving and genuine actions.

Faith was an important part of her life and she was a longtime communicant of St. Magdalen Church, Flemington, NJ.

The poet Kahlil Gibran once wrote, “The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious of the rose.” Alma lived her life seeing nothing but the rose (her husband’s favorite flower); she let faith. hope and love guide her actions and the legacy she leaves for so many, is to spend each day seeing and experiencing only the rose.

Surviving her are daughter and son-in-law, Adriana and Chris Voss; her son and daughter-in-law, Stephen and Laura Del Savio; her five grandsons, Erich Voss, Keith Voss and his wife, Claire, Daniel Voss and his wife, Abigail, Stephen Del Savio and his fiancé, Cassie Mordaga, and Brian Del Savio and his wife,  Christy; four great grandchildren, Alexander and Aiden Voss and Hudson and Madison Del Savio; her caregiver for the past two years, Esther “Rose” Phillips; several extended family members; and many dear friends.

A Mass of Christian Burial  celebrated by Rev. Matthew Marinelli will take place on Wednesday, March 31, 2021 beginning at 11:00 a.m. at St. Magdalen Church, 105 Mine Street, Flemington, NJ, and to which all are welcome. Everyone is asked to arrive at church beginning at 10:45 a.m.

Realizing that many people will be unable to attend due to the current pandemic restrictions, the Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 a.m. will be live-streamed with the following link allowing you to be a part of the services virtually: please click HERE to watch the MASS at church (kindly ensure that you do not have a pop-up blocker installed).

Following mass, Alma and her beloved husband, Egidio, will be laid to rest at Gate of Heaven Mausoleum, 10 West Stevens Avenue, Hawthorne, NY. If you are meeting the funeral procession at the cemetery, you are asked to arrive at the cemetery main office at 1:15 p.m. and proceed to the mausoleum with the full procession when it arrives.

It is important to remember that given the current state of the pandemic, masks must be worn at all times on church and cemetery grounds, and social distancing must be maintained. Please follow the instructions of the Wright & Ford Care Team Family Ambassadors upon arrival at each location.

All arrangements are under the care and direction of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ.

You are encouraged to visit Alma’s permanent life celebration site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a candle of hope, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of her life.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in her honor may be made to Cohen Children’s Medical Center, via mail to 269-01 76th Avenue, Queens, NY 11040, or online by clicking HERE, or to Hunterdon Hospice, via mail to 2100 Wescott Drive, Flemington, NJ 08822, or online by clicking HERE.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”