- Date Of Birth: December 18, 1919
- Date Of Death: July 28, 2015
- State: Louisiana
Rosalie Badalamenti DiLeo (affectionately known as “Dee” to her family) was born December 18, 1919 and won her own Lifetime Achievement Award when she passed away quietly at her home on July 28 at the age of 95 and a half, surrounded by her family.
Born and raised in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, she was the seventh of nine children of Lena DeLucca Badalamenti and Michael Badalamenti, first generation immigrants from Lucca Sicula and Palermo, Sicily. She was preceded in death by her parents and her brothers and sisters: Anthony, Michael, Joseph, Louis, Catherine (Russo), Frances (Carriere), Antoinette (Miceli), and Rosie (Clark). Rosalie and her siblings represented the impactful demographic of first generation Italian-Americans in New Orleans.
Dee often told her family the adventures of her four brothers and four sisters; tales of harvesting crawfish in the middle of the night on the highway and many stories surrounding her family’s small grocery store and its colorful customers–some stories that will never be retold. In high school, Dee was a Belle Chasse Cardinal and played “running center” on the girls basketball team. She received her degree in education at Dominican Women’s College and then taught elementary school in Belle Chasse and Normal School in Port Sulfur. In 1941, she married the love of her life and her forever boyfriend, John Lucas DiLeo, M.D., whom she survived by 17 years. Dee was an adoring and devoted wife who told stories about her husband each day since his death. Together, Dee and Johnny raised their close family, and Dee is survived by her four children, John Lucas DiLeo, II, M.D., Paula Maria DiLeo, Gerard Michael DiLeo, M.D., and Gregory Pius DiLeo, Esq. She is also survived by her loving daughters-in-law, Mary Fitzsimmons DiLeo (John), Linda Bartels DiLeo (Gerard), and Christina Tears DiLeo (Gregory).
The ripples of Dee’s unforgettable presence also touched the city of New Orleans outside of her family life, through charitable organizations: for many years, Dee actively and aggressively fund-raised with Sister Mary Grace at Mount Carmel Academy, she was the president for many years of the St.
Dee was a devoted Catholic and a lifelong parishioner of St.
In her life, Dee lived through Prohibition, the Great Depression, a World War (her own Pearl Harbor story was memorable), and Hurricane Katrina.
The family wishes to sincerely thank Dee’s sitters, Lorna “Cookie” Bohin, Peggy Coleman, and the fine people at Guardian Angels Hospice, whose loving and dedicated comfort will never be forgotten.
