Concetta A. Longo

Concetta “Connie” Ann Longo passed away peacefully on 12/11/23. She was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts on May 15th, 1924 where she lived her entire life.

Connie’s parents, John and Francesca Ciccarella, immigrated from Italy on April 20, 1914 via the SS Canopic and settled in Wakefield where they heard there were a lot of Italians. Connie was the 5th of 6 children; Stefena “Lena”, Theresa “Tess”, Josephine, Francis, Connie and Nancy.

The family of 8 lived at 36 Valley St. and cared for various farm animals and grew fruits & vegetables in the backyard. As a young girl, Connie was responsible for milking the goats and making goat cheese to sell. 

At Wakefield High School Connie was athletic, playing various sports - basketball and dancing were her favorites. Connie’s athleticism continued throughout life. She and her late husband Joe were avid lake walkers and she loved riding bikes. Even into her 90’s, Connie used a standing bicycle in her basement or did bicycle kicks in bed when she woke up in the morning.

After high school, Connie’s professional career was as a seamstress in Boston. She would take the commuter rail from Wakefield to North Station, and then walk to work. Connie would later pass on her sewing experience to her daughter Jean, and her granddaughter Alissa.

The story of how Connie met Joseph Nicholas Longo, her future husband, was interesting. A man named Jim Longo was stationed at Camp Curtis Guild, an army barracks located in Reading, MA near the Wakefield town line. During World War II, soldiers would be stationed there temporarily before going overseas. The barracks would have Friday night gatherings for the troops and the local girls from Reading and Wakefield would go to meet guys and dance.

There was this certain dance where the girls would form a circle facing each other, and the guys would form a circle around their circle but facing the outwards towards the wall, so they would be back to back. The music would start and the men and women would go in different directions, clockwise and counter-clockwise. When the music stopped, the men would turn around and dance with the partner they were facing. Well, Jim was facing Connie’s older sister, Tess. Jim got Tess’s contact information and called her the next day.

In September of 1944, Jim was still at war in Europe but his brother Joe was back in the states. Joe had a lot of downtime so he wrote to Tess and told her he was coming to meet his future “little” sister-in-law in Wakefield.

On September 17th, 1944, Joe took a train from New Jersey to South Station in Boston. Tess, her sister Lena, and Lena’s husband Joe picked him up at South Station and brought him back to Wakefield. When he walked in the door, he met Tess’s other sisters Connie and Nancy. The next day, Connie was “assigned” to show Joe around Wakefield. It was that day when Joe started to fall in love with Connie, and Wakefield. 

Joe and Connie would later marry at the original St. Joseph’s Church on June 22nd, 1947, where they remained loyal parishioners for decades. 

On September 19, 1949 Connie and Joe gave birth to a daughter, Jean Longo. Joe, Connie and Jean lived on Melvin and Valley St. for about two years before Joe, Connie, Jim and Tess all bought a duplex on Salem St. in 1951.The two families lived there for 17 years before Jim and Tess moved to Lowell St. and Joe and Connie later moved to North Ave.

Joe and Connie became grandparents when Jean and her husband Tom Anderson gave birth to Alissa Anderson in October of 1978 and Greg Anderson, in June of 1980. Joe and Connie were heavily involved in the lives of their grandchildren. They could always be seen at all baseball/softball practices and marching band performances, and important school events.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck Joe and Connie the night of March 30th, 2005. A woman, while driving, lost control of her vehicle and swerved across the median strip on North Ave., hitting Joe and Connie while they were walking around Lake Quannapowitt together after dinner. Joe died on the spot, but Connie miraculously survived. 

Joe’s passing was heartbreaking and tragic for Connie. Joe was a veteran of World War II with combat medals from the battlefields in Europe, yet lost his life 100 yards from his home on North Ave. in Wakefield. The couple were married for over 50 years.

Over time, Connie found joy in life again. She remained active, and was known for hopping in the car with her daughter Jean for day trips to the beach, lunch, or shopping. She loved having Greg over for weekly dinners and would always make him her famous chicken cutlets. Connie also had a special relationship with Alissa’s partner Andy, which brought her much joy. When his band Vetiver played Boston, Connie would attend the concerts and be out past 11pm at night. It was as if Connie had found the fountain of youth. 

Connie enjoyed living on North Ave. and could be seen tending to her garden in summer or shoveling and chipping ice in the winter. She loved watching everyone walk the lake from the stoop in the front of her house. People would wave to her and she would wave back. With the 4th of July parade route passing directly in front of her house, Connie would host a cookout before the parade and fireworks every year, and everyone was always welcome.
 
In addition to gardening and being a great cook, Connie enjoyed going to St. Joseph's Church, doing puzzles, listening to music and watching TV. Her favorite TV show was Survivor and she loved following her local sports teams, the Red Sox, the Bruins and the Patriots. 

Connie became a great grandmother in 2018 when Greg and his wife Lisa had their first child, Peter, and again with their second child Rachel in 2020. She loved spending time with them, singing songs and playing games.

Her life was a blessing to family and friends. She will be missed dearly and remembered fondly.

Her Funeral Mass will be celebrated in St. Joseph Church, 173 Albion St., Wakefield on Thursday December 14 at 11:00 a.m. Visitation for relatives and friends will be held on Wednesday December 13 from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m.  Interment, Forest Glade Cemetery, Wakefield.