Obituary of Gertrude I. Yannuzzi

St. Peter’s Newest Greeter Decades of training, never thwarted by weather, the hour of the day or night, the number of people, Gertrude, perfected welcoming any and all who visited her home by swinging opening her screen door and joyously delivered her iconic “Howdy! How ‘ya doing?” to all who crossed the threshold. Guests were always greeted with hugs and kisses, the warm smells of toasted bread, sweets, coffee and the AM radio playing the news at all times. Trudy was an incredible cook and ensured that stomachs were filled as she dispensed advice, stories and anecdotes. The kitchen, clad in yellow floral print wallpaper was the heart of Trudy’s life and where memories were made for all who loved her. Incoronata Gertrude “Trudy” Yannuzzi, turned off the kitchen light and joined St. Peter with his greeters at the pearly gates on October 3, 2020. For 97 years, Trudy, trained generations of family and friends to be gracious hosts and guests. All mortals should take note to not show up to heaven empty handed (ask one of her children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren the reason why). Incoronata Cassano was born on June 2, 1923 in Brooklyn, New York to the late Angela and Antonio Cassano. The name Gertrude was the name of Angela’s dearest friend and she bestowed it onto Incoronata, not at birth, but as a young child. She was the eldest of three children and preceded in death by her brothers Tony and Eddie Cassano. At 17, Trudy married her beloved husband of 45 years, Carl A. Yannuzzi (d. 1986), who lovingly called her ‘Coach’. She gave infinite “bushels of love” to her 2 children, daughter and son-in-law; Maria and Greg Brown, and son and daughter-in-law; Carl and Patricia Yannuzzi. Trudy shared stories of the antics (while she slyly slid coins into the hands) of four grandchildren including granddaughter and grandson-in-law; Christene and Josh Kimmel and 3 handsome grandsons Daniel Brown, Michael and Christopher Yannuzzi. Gertrude was known as ‘Gigi’ to her three beautiful, great-grandchildren August and Madeleine Kimmel and Mikayla Brown. From a young age, Gertrude had an aptitude for accounting and clothing design. The start of WWII, forced Trudy to forgo a full scholarship in design at Pace University and she pursued a career of bookkeeping for eight decades. Trudy’s last place of employment was the Nassau County Bar Association Domus, where she was an institution as the lunch hour hostess, cashier and the afternoon bookkeeper until the age of 89. Trudy was an amazing friend, an adopted family member and trusted confidant to so many people throughout her life. Meals and parties were known for going well into the night, with guests from around the globe. Her grandchildren have fond memories of spending summer evenings catching lightning bugs in Chianti bottles, swiping cookies and coffee cake out of bakery boxes and falling asleep to din of laughter coming from the grown-ups visiting outside on the porch. Trudy will be privately interred next to her husband at the Cemetery of the Holy Rood, Westbury, New York. Arrangements for a celebration of her life will be made in 2021, when it is safe to gather and announced when they are confirmed. In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions in her name be directed to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at https://www.cff.org/give-today/ or to National Shrine and Museum of St. Therese https://saint-therese.org/support-the-national-shrine-and-museum-of-st-therese/. Raise a glass, Cin-Cin, Gertrude!