ROSARIA BUTTACAVOLI's Obituary
ROSARIA (Rose) BUTTACAVOLI was born in Baltimore, Maryland on the 4 th of July in 1928 to Rosario (1900 to 1980) and Sadie (Brocato) (1909 to 1965) and lived with her family in the Little Italy area of Baltimore above the family’s restaurant and tavern on West Baltimore Street, where she completed her education at St. Peter’s Commercial School. During World War II, at the age of only 14, her advanced typing and unique translation (English to Sicilian Italian) skills resulted in the U.S. government recruiting her and another local girl to serve the U.S. Military Interrogation and Translation Service during the U.S. military’s interrogation of Italian prisoners of war on a docked Liberty Ship in Baltimore Harbor. The Calabrese family moved to the Allapattah area of Miami in the latter part of the 1940s. There she met and married Ciro Buttacavoli (deceased 2021), her husband of over 70 years, in 1951 at Corpus Christi Church, which was located directly across the street from her family home. They moved with their young family to their first home in 1955, near St. Michael the Archangel Church, where they lived until moving to Pompano Beach in 2019. She volunteered on many occasions for St. Michael the Archangel Church and School, including fundraising, and working in the library, cafeteria, and recess yard. She worked for the Miami Dade County Tax Collector’s office at the Dade County Auto Tag agency across from Miami Stadium from the late 1940s to the early 1950s, pausing her career to raise her three children. She rejoined the Miami Dade County Tax Collector’s office in the late 1960s and worked there until retiring as the Mail Room Supervisor for the Auto Tag Division in the late 1980s. She was involved in the County transitioning the annual auto tag renewal date from August of each year to the birthdate of the vehicle owner. She helped train and mentor numerous young men and women during her career, helping those who were struggling to become valuable members of her staff. She is survived by her children, JoAnne (Andres Pumariega), Frank (Mayra Buttacavoli), Ciro (Ellen Kessler), 7 grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren ranging in ages from 14 years to almost 3 weeks, and one more on the way. She is also survived by her sisters Francesca (Fran) Shaheen (1931), and Concetta (Tina) Feria (1932). Her sister Santa Maria (Sandy) Zkiab (1930) preceded her in death in 2021. She has several nieces and nephews, all of whom are children of her 3 sisters. Mrs. Buttacavoli enjoyed all sports; first and foremost, the Orioles and Colts teams from her hometown of Baltimore, and then later shifting her allegiance to the local South Florida teams; especially the Miami Heat. She often accompanied her husband Ciro to thoroughbred horse racing events at whichever South Florida racetrack was running during that time of the year. She also attended the World Series in Miami in 2003, and the first game ever at Marlins’ Park in 2012. Since her retirement, she enjoyed a simple and unburdened life with her husband and family, relishing in their life events, milestones, and accomplishments. She and her husband took great pride in the foundation they laid for their children that stressed the importance of education and dedication to family.
Her legacy will live in the kind, compassionate, and generous way she treated those that she interacted with; especially those that served her in any way, including grocery store employees, restaurant staff, and healthcare providers. On countless occasions when her children met any of these people for the first time, they raved about her and her husband’s kindness and compassion. She sacrificed so many material things so that her children could have access to education and other experiences that would help them on their way to success. In lieu of flowers, please send donations St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or St. Michael the Archangel Catholic School, Miami, FL.
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