Norma M. Pellegrino

Norma Pellegrino (1934-2022)

Norma M. Pellegrino (née Rivera) died on February 11, 2022 after a long illness. With her remarkable spirit and strength still intact, she left this world with the same love, grit, grace, sass, courage, love of life, and sense of fun that she exhibited every day of her 87 years.

A resident of Ridgewood for over 40 years, Norma was born on November 29, 1934 in New York City, and lived in her beloved West Village until she married in 1962. She attended Stuyvesant High School and the City College of New York in Harlem. The majority of her career was spent in customer service at American Express working with restaurant clients, a job that she loved. 

A New Yorker through and through, an amazing cook, and a lover of music and dance, Norma’s true legacy lies in her deep interest in others. By all accounts, she was one-of-a-kind, authentic to her very core, and a connector extraordinaire. She loved people and people loved her. Her daughters often joked that you could set her down in Timbuktu and she would find her way home with a group of former strangers, gathered along the way, who were now new friends. 

Norma is survived by her brother Pat Rivera; her two daughters, Andréa and Maria Pellegrino; and her grandchildren, Nicole, Matthew, and Anthony Richards. She is predeceased by her beloved husband of nearly 60 years, Nick; her brother, Fred; her mother Catherine; and her Uncle Nick. 

A memorial and celebration of life will be held in the spring (date TBD) for both Norma and Nick (who passed in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic). No flowers please; Rather, the family requests that donations be made to Covenant House International (covenanthouse.org ).