Bess Rose Castaldo - Obituary

ess Rose DeFilippis Castaldo, age 91, of Charlottesville, VA, passed away peacefully on Saturday, August 22, 2020, at the UVA Medical Center in Charlottesville, VA. Born on August 15, 1929, to the late Frank and Josephine DeFilippis, Bess married Tony Castaldo on September 10, 1952, in Weirton, WV. They made their home in Northern Virginia. In addition to her parents and late husband, Tony, Bess is preceded in death by her brothers, Patsy and Dominick DeFilippis. She is survived by her children, Patti (Eddy) Schneider, Mark (Vicki) Castaldo and Joellen (Bob) Raymond; her granddaughters, Nicole and Courtney Schneider; and her siblings, Kiki (Mary) Fortunato, and Butch and Frank DeFilippis. Bess was the loving aunt to many nieces and nephews, their children and even their grandchildren. From her family: Our mother was remarkable and all those who knew her knew this as well. She had the most selfless, compassionate and loving heart. Though she struggled with illness for the past 13 years, she never complained and was always able to count her blessings and see the good in all she had. For the last few years, she selflessly gave her time as a volunteer in the Caring Embrace knitting group at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, VA, to create beautiful and comforting shawls for patients with cancer. She was the strongest, most resilient person we knew even in the face of adversity. Her motto was always "this too shall pass.” One of her friends recently described her as "wonderful, beautiful little Bess.” She was all of those things at 4 feet 11 inches and all of 106 pounds physically, and she had a sharp, strong mind and loving heart. In her younger years and even more recently, she was an avid bowler (beating us “youngsters” multiple times over the years!) and had a passion for the game of tennis, which she enjoyed watching on TV.  Though there are so many, one of her greatest loves was her grand dog, Charlie.  They were best buddies and he brought her so much joy as well as healing comfort during times of pain. She didn’t even mind when he chewed on her slippers. She will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her. May she rest in peace with our dad, for they are together again after ten long years. We would like to thank all the doctors and nurses at Martha Jefferson who cared for our mother over these past five years with such great compassion and love, especially Dr. Andrew Romano. We are also extremely grateful for the amazing medical staff at UVA Medical Center who so lovingly and gently cared for our mom during her final days. A private Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, 620 Bestgate Rd., Annapolis, MD, on Thursday, September 3, 2020. We invite family and friends to pray along with us during this time so she can feel our love.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made, in honor of Bess Rose Castaldo, to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (lls.org). Condolences may be made online at: KalasFuneralHomes.com.