Elaine Frances Gatto, 96, of Point Marion, Pa., passed away peacefully on Oct. 14, 2018, at Mon Health Medical Center.
Elaine was born in Point Marion, daughter of Maria Assunta Bruni and Dominick Bruni.
Elaine lived in Point Marion her entire life except when she attended and graduated from Duff’s Iron City College, the first of her family to graduate from college, a fact for which she was very proud. After college, she pursued a career at the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph evening daily newspaper and then returned to Point Marion and married Nicholas Gatto on Sept. 13, 1947. After their marriage, Nick and Elaine quickly began their career in business. Elaine’s keen sense of finances and business acumen helped them to become successful business owners in Point Marion. They owned and operated the Venice restaurant and bar, at Morris Crossroads, the Colonial Hotel on South Main St., Point Marion, and then purchased the five and dime store and renamed it Gatto’s Variety store on Penn St., in Point Marion.
She was a member of Saint Hubert Roman Catholic Church and the Rosary Altar Society, and the Thursday night Bridge Club. After many years of hard work, Elaine and Nick retired and joined the Pines Country Club of Morgantown, and enjoyed life together golfing, playing bridge and spending time with their large family. Elaine was very proud of the many things she accomplished in life, but nothing made her prouder than her family. Elaine will be remembered as a trailblazer. She worked outside of the home and ran businesses before the women’s liberation movement and never shied away from hard work. Her success in business is a result of her unrelenting drive to provide a better life for her children and their children. She will be greatly missed.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Nicholas Gatto on Nov. 23, 1997; and two brothers, Arthur “Bud” Bruni and Rudolph “Rudy” Bruni.
She is survived by her son, Anthony Gatto and wife, Charlotte, of Gainesville, V.a.; her daughter, Roseanne Hughes and husband, John, of Carlisle, Pa.; her sister and brother-in-law, Evelyn and Felix Meale, of Point Marion; her sister-in-law, Billie Bruni, of Maryland; four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
Friends will be received at Louis E. Rudolph Funeral Home, 15 N. Main St., Point Marion, from 7-8 p.m. Friday. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Saint Hubert Roman Catholic Church at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 27. Interment will follow at Little Arlington Section of Evergreen Memorial Park of Point Marion.
