Nono Joe was Diagnosed with having a very aggressive case of Sarcoma only 3 months ago. The cancer was spreading very quickly around his body shutting down his organs one at time. He suffered tremendously with fluids in his legs to the point that they had to strap them up as the fluid was leaking. They needed to make sure that they wouldn’t get infected.

What can we say, we were devasted to see Nono Joe like this, he had never been sick in his life, never been hospitalized yet all of a sudden he was taken away from us. I still to this day remember him and how much love and affection he showed Leslie,Myself and our Daughter Elizabeth.

Nono Joe had a special bond with Elizabeth, she would always call out for him even when he passed away. Elizabeth just told me, what she misses most about Joe is talking to him, listening to him whistle, giving him cuddles and kisses. On the day Joe Died no one told Elizabeth yet she turned to her Nona Mary and said “ Don’t cry Nona, Joe is an angel now, he is with xristouli”.

The next day I asked Elizabeth where Joe is, she said “ He is in hospital with xristouli then later on that day I asked her the same question, Elizabeth relied “he is in the car” . We were all amazed as at that moment Joe was being transferred from the hospital to the funeral home.

The day of the funeral I asked her, where is Joe, she said “He is in a Treasure Chest in the ground” . My mouth dropped, I couldn’t believe just how much she is connected to Joe. Not one person told Elizabeth what is going on yet she knew cause Joe was talking to her.

On the day of the funeral, Michael and I read prayers and Paul did the Eulogy this is what he wrote about Nono Joe many people may have known him as Comapre Joe. After the procession we invited everyone to gather together to Celeberate Joes Life with a wake.

Eulogy for Giuseppe Lentino

6th December 1930 to 21st October 2008

Giuseppe Lentino was born in Naples Italy on the 6th December 1930.He was a middle child,having one older,and one younger sister.

The world being as it was in the 1930’s and 1940’s,Giuseppe left school at a very young age and commenced working with his father in the leather industry.But when he turned 20,he joined the Italian Air Force to pursue his ambition to train as an Airforce pilot.Such ambitions were cut short due to a personal tragedy and Giuseppe again returned to working with his father.

In 1956,at the age of 26,Giuseppe migrated to Australia where he first arrived in Melbourne and there he would remain for some 18 months following which he decided to move to Sydney.

Giuseppe loved the lifestyle that Sydney had to offer.He made many,many friends and would regularly attend dances.In fact,he was a prize dancer,having won trophies in Italy for his styles in Cha Cha,Tango and Rock N” Roll.

He also had another great passion – WOMEN.The story goes that in his early days,he unintentionally arranged for three separate dates to turn up at the same place at the same time,and upon arriving at the venue and realizing his mistake,he quickly jumped in his car and sped off.

Many a women fell into his charming ways,in fact he broke off nine official engagements.He simply wasn’t ready to get married until he met a beautiful young lady named Georgina to which I would like to tell you the story.It was actually on my parents wedding day.Georgina worked with my mother so she was invited to the wedding.On the day,one of the hire cars didn’t show up.My mum’s brother Uncle Tony,quickly contacted his friend Giuseppe who at the time drove a very flashy Ford.Giuseppe offered his services and accordingly was invited to join the party.It wasn’t until the very last dance of the night when he locked eyes with Georgina.He politely asked her brother Theodore permission to have the dance,which was granted.They fell in love and went on to marry on the 29th February 1964,and would remain together 44 years,living initially in Granville,then Enmore and in 1969 they purchased a brand new unit in Brighton-le-Sands where he would remain for the rest of his life.

Giuseppe was a larger than life figure.Everyone held him in the highest regard and everyone respected him.This is proven by the fact that he had 36 Godchildren and became known to us all as Compare Joe,to which I can proudly say that I was the first child that Giuseppe and Georgina would Christen together.

Compare Joe loved his Italian Napolitan music.Compare Joe also loved his food,in particular authentic Napolitan food.He loved dining at various Italian eateries.This became apparent over time with his belly simply getting bigger and bigger.But he was not in any way ashamed or embarrassed of his size.Growing up,I constantly have recollections of him taking off his shirt in public and he would make everyone laugh.

In his love of travelling the world,one of his favorite places was Bankok,and he would more often that not,be approached by strangers wanting to rub his belly,simultaneously saying “lucky Buda”.Compare Joe just found it all so very amuzing.

Apart from his comical side,Compare Joe also did have a very serious side.He was a very generous man,and he had a very good heart.He was always impeccably dressed,most of the time in a suite,vest and tie and he always loved to smell nice.

He did slow down in his later years,opting to spend his days visiting friends or simply lazing around the pastisseries of Haberfield.

We can all say that Compare Joe led a good life.He did whatever he wanted to do,whenever he wanted to do it.Putting aside his weight,he was never plagued by ill health until most recently which led to his rather sudden passing.
We will all miss you Compare Joe.You really were one of a kind.

Today we celebrated Nonos birthday, we ad some yummy cake and gave nono his pressie. Elizabeth couldn’t stop singing happy birthday to Nono Albert hip Hip Horray Hip Hip Horray and he made a wish. All the very best Albert with love Effie , Leslie and Elizabeth xoxoxox

We surprised Elizabeth with tickets to see Dora Live on Stage. She was sooooooooo very excited. Her mouth dropped when they all appeared in front of her. She was singning along to the songs and was excited when see saw the pirate piggies. What can we say, one very happy young little girl. It was so cute to see her like this. The show had ended and Elizabeth was in awe of the whole experience. We bought her a tshirt etc . One very nice family event enjoyed by us all !!

Zachary was invited to a birthday Party at Luna Park so we all decided to make the day of it. Carla and the kids, Anna and her daughter, Leslie, Elizabeth and Myself. We caught the train in then got the ferry over to Luna Park. It was a lovely ferry ride and the kids were getting so excited as we were nearing the famous big mouth of Luna Park. We took heaps of photos as the kids got on a lot of rides. Leslie, Elizabeth and I went on the Ferris Wheel. Wow how exciting to be so far up high hanging over the waters edge. I was more scared than Elizabeth. We then ventured to the dodgem cars where Zac and Leslie were in the car together. The other kids were in a car on their own. They had heaps of fun crashing into eachother. Elizabeth wanted to join in but alas she is too young and not only that the sign noted people with heart conditions cannot go on the ride. We found that a lot of the rides specify this and it was hard to select rides for Elizabeth. We went into the fun house and behind that there were more rides for toddlers so Elizabeth was in her element. We had lunch and feed the birds too. Thanks for a great day girls we will have to catch up again soon!!!

Carla, Steve and kids along with Leslie, Elizabeth and myself all decided to head out for a game of bowling. Well what can I say, I was a little rusty but Elizabeth and the kids were better  I think Steve beat us being the Adults, Effie came second etc. I think Elizabeth came first then Georgia then Zac. Over all we had a fantastic time and vowed to make this an ongoing event maybe every fortnight if we can.

Today we celebrated with Thea Georgina, her birthday and Elizabeth was so excited to wish her well. We cut cake and gave her our present. We had a lovely time however it would have nicer if Nono Joe was at home with us celebrating too rather than being in hospital.

8:30am our journey started as we were headed for Albury, we had lunch in Yass and arrived at 4:00pm. We hit the shops and orgnised some dinner, Elizabeth was so excited that we are going to see all her family memebers tomorrow in Melbourne.
We woke up had breaky and packed the care so that we can start our day and make our way to St Kilda. On the way we stopped in Glenrowan where ed Kelly made his last stance, we had lunch and took heaps of pics. We made our way further down Victoria as we arrived at approx 3:00pm.

On Monday 1st September we went to Southland Shopping Centre and bought shoes, clothes etc. later on we were invited to go to Brian and Leonies for dinner. Elizabeth loved seeing her cousins Michael, Perry, Ella, Romana as its been almost 8 months since we did our last trip to Melbourne. The girls spent time in the boat pretend playing that they were catching fish lol too cute !!Thanks so much for the lovely dinner guys and it was lovely catching up again.

3rd September 2008 - Our 3rd Wedding Annversary we had dinner at home with our family, was very nice, we exchanged gifts and had a lovely night. Leslie I want you to know that I love you so very much and am glad that we are living every moment together with our wonderful daughter Elizabeth xxx

4th September 2008 - Melbourne Zoo Today we ventured to see all the wildlife at the ZOO while Elizabeth was singing Daddys taking us to the Zoo tomorrow Along the way we saw Gorillas, Monkeys, Elephants were we saw the Keepers Fedding them and the Lovely Elephant drank some water and spurted it all over us lol it was funny. We have the video footage so I will get Leslie to upload it. We also saw Giraffes, Zebras, Kangaroos, Emus, wombats and then we saw the Lions Roaring wow they were so loud. Have footage of this too. Overall we had a lovely day and Elizabeth crashed out as we drove home.

5th September we went bowling and yes Elizabeth beat our scores lol Too funny later on we went to Burt Street for Dinner. We saw All the family including Nono. Thank you all so very much for a memorable evening.

6th September we went to the Victoria Markets and shopped away. Bought heaps of things including a CD with music frm the ANDES. later on Mum and Dad organised diner at home with family and friends.

7th September Fathers Day Lunch
Elizabeth woke up giving POP and Daddy their Fathers Day pressie as we had breaky. Later on in the morning we drove to Rippon Lea Estate and met up with Leonie and Brian and the kids for a Picnic Fathers Day lunch. All the dads got a lovely bag full of goodies from the estate they also got a free boat ride and a massage

We toured the house after lunch and met 2 lovely women who like to dress up for these events. They were kind enough to allow us to take this photo and add it to our website. Thanks again for your approval. We then walked around the gardens and later sat down to listen to the band playing music. The kids also had a go on the jumping castle and there was a sausage sizzle going on too !! Overall a very nice fathers day was had by all !! We then left eariler than expected as it began to rain heavily.

8th September Today Romana joined us as we drove to the town Belgrave to catch the Puffing Billy. We travelled through the Dandenong Ranges which was very scenic.

We had fish and chips for lunch and the kids played in the park before we caught the puffing billy back to Belgrave Station. Later on we drove to Marcel and Alida’s house for a coffee.

9th September Leslie’s 36th Birthday Party
All the family gathered today to Celebrate Leslies 36th Birthday. Our sincere thanks go out to Mum and Dad for all the preparation of food and Dessert. We love you both very much and appreciate all that you have done for us over the years. Thank you to everyone who attended and for your lovely presents.

On the night Leslie decided to take photos of us with funny faces here they are!!!