Josephine Aponte Blandi was born on March 19, 1938 on Saint Joseph’s Day (her namesake) to parents Sarah Sampayo and Emanuel Aponte. She was raised on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx with her brother, Manny and sister, Adele. She was as strong as they come and as kind as they come.  

In her yearbook from John Dwyer Jr High School she said she wanted to be a nurse. It was truly her calling. She graduated from Grace Dodge High School and started her career at Kinney Shoes in Manhattan where she met her future husband, Anthony Blandi. 

After many picnics on Sterling Lake, they built their dream house in Tuxedo, New York and raised their children Anthony, John and Jacqueline. She went to nursing school with a posse of incredible women, her best friends, and took her first nursing job at Good Samaritan Hospital.

As a true New Yorker she moved back to Manhattan, bought an apartment, and worked at Bellevue Hospital. There she made more life-long friends and traveled the world. She enjoyed every minute of living in New York City. It was Paradise. 

During these years she was blessed with the most incredible daughter-in-law, Claudia. When her grandson Thomas came into the world, she jumped at the chance to take care of him. She always said these were the happiest days of her life. 

You measure life in love. Tony, Claudia, John, Jacqueline, Thomas, Jessica, Manny, Adele, our extended family and her endless circle of friends. They were her world. Her life was full. 

She embraced life. She took ballroom dancing and photography lessons, traveled, sewed, skied, played tennis, was a wonderful cook and had a green thumb. She was mischievous, funny and easy to be with. But what made her so so special was her caring nature. She kept us all safe. She believed in all of us and had so much kindness to give. Her heart was bigger than Manhattan. 

The pandemic brought her to Connecticut to live with her daughter, Jacqueline. It was a time to bond and reminisce, and once again she rose to the occasion with grace, humor and love. She moved to nearby Seabury last April where she continued to build her table of friends with some incredibly sweet and caring women.

The staff at Seabury gave our family one of life’s most important gifts…they cared and protected our biggest treasure, our mother. We are indebted to them and to everyone who brought happiness into her life.

There will be a celebration of Josephine's life at the Bishop’s Chapel, 200 Seabury Drive, Bloomfield, Connecticut on Wednesday, August 9, from 3:00pm-4:00pm and a service will be held on Thursday, August 17, at 10:30am at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 5 Tobin Way, Tuxedo Park, New York. Online condolences may be made www.SheehanHilbornBreen.com