Giuseppe “Joe” Badamo, a lifelong gardener, passionate fisherman and skilled brick mason, died April 13 at the age of 89, in Wall, New Jersey.

Giuseppe was born on September 15,1936 in Castellammare del Golfo, a small city on the coast of Sicily, near Palermo. He was raised in a brood of eight siblings, many of whom would end up seeking a better life in the United States. Giuseppe made his own journey stateside at the age of 28, arriving in Brooklyn in 1964. He quickly found work with his fellow countrymen as a brick mason in Staten Island.

Giuseppe met Eleanor Polizzi the same year of his arrival, through a family connection. The pair married in June 1965, and soon became parents to two daughters, Maria and Concetta.

His daughters remember him as a good role model who worked six-day weeks, often 10 or 12 hours a day. On his Sundays off, he took the family on fi shing trips, or spent time with other loved ones, who knew him affectionately as “Pino.”

In retirement, Giuseppe, Eleanor and Concetta moved from Staten Island to Toms River, New Jersey, where they spent 18 years together alongside their family of cats (and one dog, Jake). Giuseppe mostly spent his days fi shing, crabbing and tending to his utterly abundant backyard garden, which produced an astounding bounty of fruits and vegetables. His grandchildren accompanied him on many outings to catch crabs—always followed by a stop at the legendary ice cream parlor around the corner.

Giuseppe and Eleanor later relocated to Lincroft, New Jersey, to a senior apartment community. After Eleanor passed in 2019, Giuseppe spent the next years befriending his Italian neighbors, religiously attending bingo and—of course—maintaining a garden plot. Always keen to keep a connection to his homeland, he missed not a minute of Italian television and made a daily journey to the corner store to pick up an Italian newspaper.

In fact, Giuseppe always retained his Italian citizenship, never naturalizing as an American citizen. What started as perhaps a bureaucratic obstacle later became a gift to his grandson Michael, who was able to claim Italian citizenship by ancestry, and relocate full-time to Italy.

Giuseppe, in his signature mix of Sicilian and English, was known to impart a simple message whenever he said goodbye to his loved ones: Enjoy your life. In his passing, we hope to let those words ring out, guiding us all to make the most of the time we have.

Giuseppe is predeceased by his wife, Eleanor Badamo; his parents Maria and Vito; siblings Mattia, Vicenzina, Giuseppina, Giovanni, and Anna. He is survived by his sister Maria and brother Vito; two daughters, Maria DeSocio and her husband David, Concetta Parascand and her husband Paul; two grandchildren, Michael DeSocio and Domenic DeSocio; and many loving nieces and nephews.

Visitation is at Holmdel Funeral Home on Wednesday, April 15, from 4-8 p.m. The funeral mass will be held at St. Leo the Great Church on Thursday, April 16 at 10:15 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Lincroft First Aid & Rescue Squad or the Monmouth County SPCA in his name.