Louretta Dragonetti Obituary

Louretta was born Louretta Teresa Broschart on September 12, 1927 and was baptized in
Fourteen Holy Martyrs Church in Brooklyn NY. She grew up with her parents Lawrence and
Madeline Broschart in Richmond Hill, New York, her sisters Madeline Kurz, Rosemary Hertle,
Frances Pigott, Cecelia Hawrigan, Virginia Ferrone, Bernadette Browne, and brother Lawrence
Broschart. She was on the swim team and also played the mandolin at Richmond Hill High
School. Shortly after graduating high school, she went to work at the Herald Tribune where she
met Rocco Robert Dragonetti, known to all as Bob. They met and fell in love at the Herald
Tribune. Louretta was a secretary along with her sister Virginia and Bob worked in the print shop
(with William "Chuck" Ferrone, who later married Virginia) and Louretta and Bob were married
on April 22, 1950.
Two years later, they purchased their first home in Uniondale, New York and raised their five
children there - Robert Dragonetti (Patricia), Lynn Gelley (Mark), Laurie Littlefield (Everett -
known to all as Chip), Michael Dragonetti and Teresa Dornfeld (Adam). They all lived in a small
house with one bathroom, but somehow made it work. She was a den mother for the Boy
Scouts, and a Brownie Leader for the Girl Scouts. Once the oldest three children were married
and had moved out of the house, Louretta went back to work as an usher at the Hofstra
University Playhouse part time. She also had her "birthday club" with her friends from the
neighborhood.
In 1978, after 28 years of marriage, Bob passed away, leaving Louretta to raise Michael and
Teresa and jump back into the workforce at 50, where once again she became a secretary - this
time to the director of Sports Facilities at Hofstra University. She worked at Hofstra until 1996.
During her time at Hofstra, she became the second of the only two members of her family to
graduate with a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts and Anthropology. She actually attended many
of her classes with her youngest daughter, Teresa, where they were both Fine Arts majors. In
her spare time, Louretta was a member of the Uniondale Homemakers, the Uniondale-East
Meadow chapter of AARP, the Rosary Society, the Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of Columbus
and the Altar Society for many years.
Once she retired, she was busier than ever. She belonged to the arts and crafts club at the
senior center and was very active with her church, St. Martha's where she would count out the
collections (donations) after mass. As a little "job" she would also work at the polls during
elections.
She traveled all over the United States (and sometimes ventured into Canada) to visit family or
just to explore with friends or family. She especially loved to visit Lynn and Mark in Florida as
well as Laurie and Chip in Arizona where she would go off on sightseeing tours with her
son-in-law, Chip whenever Laurie was at work. When she wasn't visiting with her children and
grandchildren (and eventually great-grandchildren), she would crochet hats for newborns in the
hospital, make crafts to give to her children, play solitaire, do the crossword puzzle in the
newspaper and do her jigsaw puzzles.
Her three daughters all lived out of state. Lynn and her husband Mark went to Florida, where
she and Mark now live with their children - Brian Gelley (Danielle), Steven Gelley (Laura) and
Scott Gelley (Peyton) and their six grandchildren - Leila, Luke, Bella, Isla, Nora and Dylan
Gelley. Laurie and her husband Chip, moved to Arizona with four children, Jeremy Stein
(Jennifer), Matthew Stein, Gregory Dragonetti (Brie) and Jamie Belanger(Julien). They also
have four grandchildren - Nicholas Stein, Tyler Stein, Rocco Dragonetti and Nicco Dragonetti.
Her third daughter Teresa and her husband Adam, moved to Connecticut and had their two
sons- Joshua Dornfeld (Anastasiya) and Zachary Dornfeld. Her son Robert and his wife Patricia
stayed on Long Island and her son Michael remained with Louretta as her constant companion
and eventually her caregiver.
In 2022, Louretta celebrated her 95th birthday with her children, grandchildren and great
grandchildren. One week later, Louretta and her son Mike moved out of Uniondale and moved
to Kings Park, N.Y. and into their daughter Lynn and son-in-law Mark's townhouse, where they
lived for two and a half years until Louretta sadly passed away at the age of 97. She will be
missed by all of her many nieces and nephews all over the world, cousins remaining, two
sister-in-laws, Joan Dragonetti and Gladys Dragonetti and brother-in-law Michael Dragonetti
and many, many friends. Anyone who was blessed enough to know her were touched by her
sweet kind and giving nature. She will be missed very much. People often said that she was an
angel. Now she truly is one. May she continue to watch over her family and may she rest in
peace with God.
In Memory of Louretta T. Dragonetti and the wonderful care she received at St. Catherine of Siena Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, donations can be mailed to:
St. Catherine of Siena Foundation
48 Route 25A, Suite 205
Smithtown, NY 11787
Please make checks payable to: St. Catherine of Siena Foundation, and in the memo please write: In Memory of Louretta T. Dragonetti.
Here is the link if you would like to make a donation online: https://www.catholichealthli.org/st-catherine-siena-hospital/ways-give and dedicate your donation "In Memory of Louretta T. Dragonetti"