The One Year Memorial Mass for Angela "Big Ang" Raiola

It seems unbelievable but the force larger than life known as "Big Ang" has been gone from this earth and our lives for a year already. On February 18, 2017, a one year anniversary Mass was held at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Staten Island. 

The Mass was given by Ang's siblings, Janine, Donna and Stephen.  It was a very moving service with readings done by Donna, Dom, and Janine's daughter, Jeannie.  Janine delivered heartfelt words about her sister.  Janine shared sentiments from Ang, who wrote out beautiful messages in cards to Janine. Also shared were a few mementos given to Janine by Angela: 

The priest,  Father Tom, gave a beautiful sermon about how all of Angela's friends and family ARE her legacy and reminded all of us to "Do small things with great love" because that was what Angela did. 

After the service, we all went to the graveyard, where A.J., Ang's son, shared his thoughts about his mother and spoke about how much she is missed. Then, everyone wrote messages to Angela on balloons and let them go into the blue sky of the beautiful afternoon. 

Janine, Stephen and Donna

There is no denying Angela is missed. She is still missed by friends and fans from all over. We all miss seeing her on our televisions hearing her words of wisdom and her one of a kind hilarious statements that made us laugh. But, most of all, it is so evident that she is missed by her family. It is heartbreaking to see their pain and grief.  Angela will never be forgotten. Never.


Janine also shared with me that she takes joy and comfort in knowing that Angela was proud of her. She has heard from several people that Ang would always say how impressed she was with the way Janine could run her store and take care of her family. It's been a year, but Janine still misses the dozens of phone calls she shared with her sister on a daily basis.  She added that she is so proud to be her sister and it is her honor to keep Angela's memory alive. 

Here is a video by the Staten Island Advance of the service: 




Take time to post your memories, and comments for the family below. As always, thank you for reading.