Former Merrick Resident Passes Away

Catherine A. Romanelli (Probst), a former Merrick resident, passed away at Good Shepherd Nursing and Rehabilitation Home in Jaffrey on Oct. 29 after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease.

Romanelli, who was born in Queens, loved music and literature growing up.

She graduated from Grover Cleveland High School in 1942. She was working and starting college when she met Joseph A. ("Hoagy") Romanelli, a pianist, at a musical gathering, and married him on July 2, 1949. 

The two later moved to Merrick where they raised their three children and lived for many years. 

She became the head children's librarian at Levittown Public Library and then the Director of the Farmingdale Public Library, ending her career as the Director of the Sachem Public Library in Holbrook, NY. 

Romanelli is preceded in death by her parents, John and Katherina (Schmidt) Probst, her sisters, Martha, Marion, Lillian and Muriel and brothers, Leonard and Robert, as well as her husband, "Hoagy."

She leaves behind her son and daughter-in-law Mark and Julia Romanelli of Lexington, Ky., son and daughter-in-law Joel and Karen Romanelli of Vancouver, Wash., and daughter and son-in-law Janet and Paul Renaud of Greenfield; granddaughter Rachel Romanelli, and partner, Mike Taylor of Cincinnati, Ohio and grandson Jay Romanelli of Breckenridge, Colo.

She also leaves behind her sister, Arline, of Glasco, N.Y. and brother, Richard Probst and his wife, Fay, of Fairfax, Va., as well as a number of nieces, nephews and cousins, notably her niece Anita Hayes, to whom she was particularly close, Anita's husband, Bill, and their two children, as well as Paula and Bob Lariosa and their family, all of Long Island, Gary and Joanne Montalbano and their family, of Brooklyn, and many other family and friends.