Angelina Brancucci

North Denver native Angelina Brancucci died Christmas 2018 at 99.

Angie was born July 12, 1919 at 37^th and Osage Street to Pasquale and Rosina Brancucci. When she was about 2 the family moved up the hill to 36^th and Pecos, where she lived until a couple weeks ago. When they moved in, the house was a small duplex that her father and friends converted to a 2-bedroom single-family dwelling, still very small, especially by today's standards. There the family grew to seven children - six girls and a boy. In 1930, when Angie was just 11 years old, her mother died, along with the baby she was trying to bring into the world.

Carmella, Angie's older sister, and Angie left school to help their father, extended family and friends raise five younger siblings. Carm and Angie went to work early to help support the growing family. Angie began her career at 15, altering clothes. Then her cousin Rena helped 16-year-old Angie get a job at Columbine Manufacturing, where she worked for the next 50 years, lugging bolts of cloth larger than her, serging, cutting, sewing, folding and finishing beautiful draperies. As time passed she trained new hires, kept the books, managed the inventory, and workflow, though they didn't call it that at the time. The company closed two weeks every year to provide the employees a vacation, but Angie spent one of those weeks inventorying the cloth and supplies, ordering more, so production could start back up as soon as they reopened for business.

She and Carm never married and never left home, sharing the duties of managing a household full of growing children as their father, Pasquale worked in a packing plant and volunteered at various lodges at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church.

As her sisters and friends married and began families of their own, Angie was always a bridesmaid. She and Carm played active roles in helping raise, teach, occasionally discipline, and spoil more than a dozen nieces and nephews, who thought the little brick bungalow on Pecos was a second home. In truth, Carm was the enforcer, not allowing food in the living room of the tiny house, and making sure everyone's shoes were clean before they stepped through the door. Auntie Angie was the soft touch - quiet, easy going, and generous to a fault. To be fair, they were both generous to a fault, but it was easier to recognize in Auntie Angie.

She had a quick smile, soft touch, and disarming demeanor. She loved to dress up, and her wardrobe, which filled, not just closets, but the store room in the basement, was complete with perfectly coordinated accessories, though we rarely saw them outside of church, because at home she was always draped in an apron or housecoat, cooking, serving and cleaning up after frequent meals and parties hosted down at ""the house.""

Auntie Angie told us more than once she didn't want to live to be a hundred. In fact, she said she wasn't sure how she lived as long as she did. Perhaps it was clean living, hard work, good food and plenty of exercise, walking up and down the hill to church every morning, working in her garden, and cleaning incessantly. Or maybe it was because she had so much love to share that it sustained her as it blessed those she touched.

Visitation will be Tuesday, January 1^st, at 5 PM concluding with the Recitation of the Rosary at 6 PM Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 3020 Federal Boulevard.

The Funeral Mass will be 10AM, Wednesday, January 2nd at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, 3549 Navajo Street in Denver. Following the Mass, a Reception will be held in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Hall.

After the reception she will be entombed at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Angeline’s honor to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church.

Visitation: January 1, 2019 5:00 pm

Horan & McConaty - Central Denver
3020 Federal Blvd.
Denver, CO 80211

Recitation of the Rosary : January 1, 2019 6:00 pm

Horan & McConaty - Central Denver
3020 Federal Blvd.
Denver, CO 80211

Funeral Mass: January 2, 2019 10:00 am

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church
3549 Navajo St.
Denver, CO