Ann Bello

Ann C. Bello, 90, a former secretary, loving wife, mother and grandmother died peacefully on Saturday the 11th of April of natural causes. On September 3rd, 1924, Ann was the first born of Italian immigrants Thomas and Maria (DeFeo) Troisi. Her father was a shoemaker and Stamford native, Ann attended Stamford Public Schools and graduated from Stamford High Class of 1942. From 1943 to 1950 Ann took a job at Pitney Bowes in payroll before leaving to work for the F.D. Rich Company. There she typed some of the first Federal Urban Redevelopment contracts proposed by Frank and Bob Rich that would eventually change the face of Stamford. Always a free and inquisitive spirit, Ann joined the Old Italian Center and took Italian lessons with the idea of perfecting the Italian that was taught in her home. She was a member of “ill cerchio” or the circle which put on Italian plays and hosted Italian notables such as Ezio Pinza. In 1955, Ann went on a solo European tour with a 500 dollar budget, taking advantage of some of the first Translantic Pan Am prop flights which took approximately 26hrs. She would later continue traveling the world with her family.
In 1960 Ann married Ernest J. Bello and had two children, Elizabeth and Ernest. As a devoted homemaker Ann successfully managed the family business while always encouraging sports, community, and education. In the Seventies, Ann was a member of the Ladies Sterling Farms Nine Holders, and then happily took her turn as head of the Stamford Opera Guild. Her love for the Opera was forged as a worker in New York City where she would often attend concerts at the old Metropolitan Opera House.
Ann is survived by her daughter, Attorney Elizabeth Franchina and her husband John and their two children John and Ann, a son Ernest J. Bello and his wife Jennifer and their three children Ernie, Christopher and Emily. She is also survived by a sister Celeste Scalzi, several nieces and nephews. Besides her parents, Ann was predeceased by her loving husband Ernest.
A funeral procession will be leaving the Nicholas F. Cognetta Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Myrtle Avenue, Stamford on Friday, April 17, 2015 at 8:20 AM for a Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated at 9:00 AM at The Basilica of St. John the Evangelist, 279 Atlantic Street, Stamford. Interment will follow at St. John’s RC Cemetery, Darien. Family and friends may call at the funeral home on Thursday, April 16, 2015 from 4:00-8:00 PM.

For online condolences please visit www.Cognetta.com