Josephine 'Jo' Deli

JOSEPHINE “JO” DELI

Josephine Lamberti Deli, 98, formerly of 415 Uber St., passed away peacefully surrounded by her family the morning of May 5, 2026, at Quality of Life in New Castle, PA. 

Josephine was born on September 28, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York, but grew up in New Castle, PA. She was the daughter of the late Antonio and Maria Caimano Lamberti. She married Edmondo Deli on November 24, 1949, who preceded her in death 5 weeks ago on March 28, 2026. 

By the grace of God, Josephine was brought to Pittsburgh from Brooklyn through the Catholic Charities Organization where Antonio and Maria Lamberti were able to adopt her. Josephine was raised here in New Castle, PA where she lived a long, beautiful life with her parents and then with her husband Ed and children. 

Josephine loved music and was also a naturally gifted artist. As a teenager, she drew amazing portraits of movie stars and presidents, by free hand, using only lead pencils and tablet paper. This gifted skill allowed her to win a contest from the Pittsburgh Art Institute. Her first job was working as a volunteer “Candy Striper” at St. Francis Hospital and then at Shenango China Pottery in the finishing department. Afterwards, Josephine later assisted her husband, Ed, as his administrative booker and secretary when he started his own HVAC business, “Ed Deli Heating and Air Conditioning”. Josephine handled all of the clerical duties for the business including scheduling and billings for 40 years until her husband retired. 

She enjoyed a variety of activities throughout her years. She was involved with several women’s bowling leagues and golf leagues here in New Castle. She also enjoyed weekly bingo and participating in the Annual St. Vitus Festivals (aka Bazaar) as a food concession worker and server. She later became an active member of Challenges Options in Aging, which she regularly attended, exercising and socializing with many friends on a weekly basis. 

She cherished and loved spending time with her family, especially her Grandsons. Each of them got to enjoy playing many board games along with tossing a football, a baseball, golfing and most of all, “Grandma’s Famous Signature” dominoes and card games. 

Because Josephine had an eye for art, she truly enjoyed working on complex jigsaw puzzles, which became a family tradition for all to contribute to finding the pieces. Several of these puzzles have been saved and preserved in frames. Her husband, Edmondo, made custom frames for each of these treasures. 

She loved to cook for her family making some of their favorites…homemade pasta, ravioli, manicotti, cavatelli and pizza! Every Sunday, there was always a pot of sauce on the stove ready to serve anyone and everyone in her family who would come to “The Uber Street Homestead”. 

Josephine also enjoyed reading and following sports statistics, especially the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the PGA Golf tournaments. She always read the daily newspaper and the Sunday church bulletin from Holy Spirit Parish (St Vitus). She loved working on cross words and word search puzzles too. 

Josephine enjoyed “bus trips” of all kinds, especially to attend church celebrations of Novenas at distant churches, theater shows and New York stage shows. In the past, she was blessed to have many friends to share these events and excursions with.

Josephine is survived by a son, Vincent A. Deli, Sr. (Sandy) and a daughter, Maria Deli McIltrot (Douglas). Three grandsons, Vincent Deli, Jr. (Ashley), Justin McIltrot, and Collin McIltrot (Christina). Five great grandchildren, Avery Deli, Mariah McIltrot, Alivia Deli, Maralina McIltrot and Mario McIltrot.

She was a member of Holy Spirit Parish, formerly St. Vitus Church, where she was an active member of the Christian Mothers. She knew and loved our Lord, Jesus Christ. She has earned her crown and resides with The Holy Family, The Angels and The Communion of Saints in the presence of God the Almighty and with her husband “Eddie” as she always affectionally called him.

Her family is Blessed to have had such a wonderful and caring woman as Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother. We will always be grateful for everything she has done for us. We will always celebrate her for touching our lives and the lives of others with her love and devotional strength.

Our family extends our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Staff at Quality of Life for their genuine care and concern during her stay there for the past four years. We also send our most sincere gratitude and appreciation to the entire team of Gentiva Hospice. They were truly the “Angels” who tended to and ministered to Mom these past months. God Bless each one of them.

There will be no public visitation. A private Funeral Liturgy Outside of Mass will be held at the William & Roger DeCarbo Funeral Home in New Castle, PA. Father Aaron Kriss from Holy Spirit Parish will deliver the Funeral Liturgy Outside of Mass. The obituary may be viewed, and online condolences may be received at www.williamrogerdecarbo.com.

Memorial contributions may be made to the United Way of Lawrence County, 223 N. Mercer St., New Castle, PA 16101. Phone:724-658-8528 www.uwlawcty.org