Memorial Trees
F
Fazio Family
July 08, 2025
M
Maria, Manuel and AnnaMaria Vargas
July 08, 2025
L
Love, Bob and Linda Kleber
July 07, 2025
K
Kaufmann family
July 07, 2025
M
Mike Pasquaretto, Island Rock
July 06, 2025
Memorial trees planted for:
Joan Ellen Arnao
<p><b>Donations would be greatly appreciated in Joan's memory to The Forget Me Not Foundation: 526 Sound Shore Road, Riverhead, NY 11901</b></p><p><br></p><p>Joan E. Arnao, formerly of Bethpage, New York, Summerfield, Florida, Sayville, New York, and most recently Dominican Village, Amityville. entered into eternal life on July 4, 2025.</p><p>Joan was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. After what she always described as a wonderful childhood, Joan enjoyed a career in Interior Design and work as an artist. She met the love of her life, Victor C Arnao, and married him on May 2, 1953.</p><p><br></p><p>Caring, loving, and giving, Joan fully embraced life itself and was a theatre enthusiast both as a participant and spectator. A devout Catholic, she was a Third Order Franciscan, as were her mother and grandmother. She was unanimously voted the President of her Rosary Altar Society and immediately jumped into fundraising to build Our Lady of Mercy Church and school. With her interior design flair and love of sewing, Joan single-handedly redecorated the convent by making all new bedspreads and curtains as a labor of love.</p><p><br></p><p>Her kindness and generosity were only second to her zeal in support of countless missions across the USA, as she fed the hungry and clothed the poor for over 70 years. There was always money to help others, even if it meant she did without something.</p><p><br></p><p>A charismatic leader with her husband in Marriage Encounter, she also opened her home and embraced young couples in preparation for marriage, many of whom came back to thank her and her husband and ask for continued advice.</p><p><br></p><p>It was never beneath Joan to scrub floors, put up a wash, and cook meals for new young mothers who needed assistance, as it was Joan's compassion for them that led her to found the St.Gerard Society in her Catholic church.</p><p><br></p><p>Her home was always a welcome haven to teenagers in need of a warm meal and loving guidance; it didn't matter if it was late at night or she was tired, her door was always open and a seat at her dinner table.</p><p><br></p><p>Joan possessed an all-embracing spirit of love for those with whom she came into contact. She always maintained a delightful sense of humor and freely shared an infectious smile and had an incomparable zest for life, and was an inspiration to all who had the joy of knowing her. She was a superb cook, an accomplished artist, and a devoted spouse, mother, grand, and great-grandmother.</p><p><br></p><p>Joan greeted the final weeks of her life with dignity, strength, and most importantly, her devout Catholic faith. Even before passing from this world, she never uttered a complaint but instead urged us to continually give thanks to God for his countless blessings.</p><p><br></p><p>Joan was surrounded by her beloved family when she left this world. Joan was predeceased by her best friend and husband, Victor, who passed on November 2, 2024. She was also predeceased by her parents, Vincent and Theresa Paissidi, as well as her brothers, Thomas and Richard Parissidi, and her nephew Richard Parissidi. She is survived by her son, Rev. Thomas V. Arnao, and her daughters, Ellen(Tom) Weglarz, Bernadette (Carl) Gabrielsen. Her cherished grandchildren include Tommy and Molly Weglarz, Nathanial, Rebecca, and Daniel Gabrielsen, Sara (Ever) Miranda, and great-grandchildren Jacob and Eliyanah Grace Miranda. She is also survived by her friend and loving sister-in-law, Anne Parissidi, and nieces Laura (Chris) Miller, Valerie (Don) Snow.</p><p><br></p><p>As she rests for all eternity with her loving God, may she be carried in our memories and our hearts forever.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>September 12, 1931 - July 4, 202509/12/193107/04/2025
Share Obituary: