Joan Marie Riforgiato, 77, of Matthews Road in Portland, N.Y., passed away Tuesday morning Sept. 25, 2012, after an extended illness at Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pa. surrounded by her loving fam-ily.
She was born in James-town, N.Y., on June 17, 1935, the daughter of the late Theodore and Gertrude Feinen Gorka.
Joan was a homemaker all of her life. She was a member of St. Dominic's Roman Catholic Church of Brocton, N.Y., and was a former member of St. Ann's Society of the former St. Patrick's Church Of Broc-ton, N.Y. She had also been a member of the American Legion Post 434 of Broc-ton, N.Y. and a former member of Tops 1094 of Brocton, N.Y.
She is survived by two sons: Michael (Debbie) Ri-forgiato and Dana (Lisa) Riforgiato; and one daughter Lisa (Brian) Fochtman; seven grandchildren: Andy, Andrew, Derek, Sara, Anthony, Aaron and Dominique and one great-grandson Braedon. She is also sur-vived by two brothers Theodore (Ted) Gorka and William (Bill ) Gorka.
She was predeceased by her husband, Anthony J. Riforgiato, whom she married on Oct. 22, 1955, and who passed away on Aug. 20, 2009; an infant daughter Valerie; her fa-ther, Theodore D. Gorka; her mother, Gertrude Reed; her stepfather, Lowell Reed; and one brother, David Reed.
Funeral services will be held at St. Dominic's Ro-man Catholic Church on Friday, Sept. 28, 2012, at 10 a.m. where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by the Rev. Joseph Walter. Interment will follow at the Portland Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, N.Y. Friends are invited to call at the Morse Funeral Home of Brocton, N.Y. from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 on Thursday, Sept. 27.
Flowers are gratefully de-clined and memorials may be made to the Brocton or Portland fire department emergency funds.
Arrangements were by the Morse Funeral Home of Brocton, N.Y.