Philomena Augusto, 74, of West Caldwell, died peacefully after a long illness on March 28, 2024.
Philomena was born to Onorio and Assunta (nee Recchia) Iacobelli in Newark, NJ in 1949. She was
raised there and graduated from Good Counsel High School in 1967. She worked as an Administrative
Assistant at Pennwalt, where she met her husband, Davide Augusto, and married in 1970. From there,
she and her husband moved to Belleville and settled in West Caldwell. They started a family and she
became a doting stay-at-home mom to her two daughters, Dina and Danielle. She eventually held a part-
time job at Caldwell-West Caldwell Public Schools as a Lunch and Recess Aide, and once her girls were
older, she worked in Operations at Brach Eichler in Roseland.
Philomena’s greatest joy in life was her family. Her daughters were her best friends and you could
always find her spending time with them. Her favorite thing to do with her daughters was to spend an
afternoon shopping and stopping for lunch. She treasured the car ride conversations and the many
laughs that came from their shared sense of humor. Her daughters will not soon forget those special
moments. Her retirement days were spent in the loving company of her cherished husband, attending
her grandchildren’s sporting events and activities, family dinners and gatherings, traveling in the
summer with her family to Cape Cod and catching up with her dear friends.
She was predeceased by her husband, her mother and father, her mother-in-law Ethel Augusto and
father-in-law Henry Augusto, and her sister-in-law Nancy Hamway. Surviving are her daughters, Dina
Schablik and her husband David, Danielle Morris and her husband Brian, her brother Peter Iacobelli
(Ann), her brother-in-law Henry (Joanne), her three adored grandchildren, Matthew, Emily and Sean, a
host of nieces and nephews and her two grand dogs, Duke and Charlie who always looked to her for
treats.
Philomena will be remembered for her kind heart, her generosity, her tell-it-like-it-is philosophy and her
strong will. She always picked herself up, brushed herself off and forged forward. She passed on the
importance of family to her two daughters and her memory will forever live on in them and her
grandchildren forever.
Funeral from the Galante Funeral Home 54 Roseland Ave. Caldwell on Wednesday 9AM.
Funeral Mass at St. Aloysius Church in Caldwell at 10:30 AM
Entombment at Gate of Heaven Chapel Mausoleum in East Hanover NJ
Vistation on Tuesday from 4 - 8 PM