Jean Rose (Clemente) Federici

After a long and happy life, Jean Rose Federici (né, Clemente) passed quietly on December 29. Jean, who was 91 years old, died in the home where she lived with her daughter, Emily, in Bluffton, South Carolina.

Born on the Fourth of July, 1932, in New York City to her father Elia Clemente and mother Josephine Clemente (né Buonconsiglio), she grew up in an active house – the eighth of nine children – in a large apartment built by her father above his thriving business operation in the Bronx. As a young woman, she worked for her father doing office work and bookkeeping.

Jean married Louis J. Federici in 1952 and together they raised three children: Joseph (married to Julie Raino), Emily, and Robert (married to Lori Federici, né Mauro). She is survived by them and her grandchildren: Jeffrey Nagy and his wife Natalie, Alex Nagy and his husband Anthony Colon, Daniel Federici and his fiancée Michele Hau, Augustus Federici, Gabriel Federici, Ashley Covington, né Federici, and her husband West Covington, and Maegan Kline. In 2022 she welcomed her first great-grandchild, Charlie Nagy.

Having been a homemaker when her children were young, she returned to work as an administrative assistant and bookkeeper, first in Pleasantville, New York, where she and Lou had moved in 1972. Louie worked for American Airlines when the company moved its headquarters to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the 80’s, and they relocated to a home in Grapevine, Texas where they lived for five years. In Texas, Jeanie worked as the executive assistant to the president of a division of Harris Corporation. She and Lou moved to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in their retirement to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. Lou died in 2011. In 2021, Jean moved with Emily to Bluffton to join Joey and Julie, who also live in the area.

As the last survivor among her brothers and sisters, “Aunt Jeanie” became matriarch to the expansive Clemente clan, and her nieces and nephews welcomed her warmly to family events and visited her frequently through the years. She was loved by everyone who knew her for her warmth and New York-style humor, but all feared her prowess at the card table. In her last days she expressed the hope that she would join her brothers and sisters in the afterlife for a game of cards as she had so often in life.

A funeral mass for Jean Federici will be held at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church on Wednesday, January 10 at 10:30 am. The church is located at 31 St. Gregory Drive, Bluffton, South Carolina. For those who are unable to attend, the mass will be livestreamed at sgg.cc. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to an organization that is meaningful to you.