Obituary of Raffaele Balestrieri

Raffaele Balestrieri, 95, of Lawrenceville, passed away on Monday, June 22, 2015 at Merwick Care and Rehab Center, Plainsboro, NJ. Born in West Chester, PA, he was a former resident of Princeton before moving to Lawrenceville 30 years ago. He is a retiree of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratories, where he was employed in the maintenance department. Raffaele was a parishioner at The Church of St. Ann. He was a volunteer for many years at Willis Greenhouse. Some of his hobbies included cooking and tending to his garden, his flowers and being with his family. Son of the late Luigi and Caladine Balestrieri, brother of the late Dominick,and John Balestrieri and Maria Librato, husband of the late Mary Balestrieri; he is survived by his daughters and son-in-law Kathleen Ratcliffe of Lawrenceville, Rosemarie and John Novak of Hopewell; his sons and daughters-in-law Louis and Josie Balestrieri of Lawrenceville, Sal and Susan Balestrieri of Hamilton; 10 grandchildren Lou, Jr., Mary, Alicia, Lisa, Gina, Danny, Joseph, John, Kristine and Heather; 15 great- grandchildren; his siblings Carmela Mangone, Filomena Mazzella, Mariana and Salvatore Balestrieri; several nieces and nephews. Funeral services will begin on Thursday morning at 9:30AM at Poulson & Van Hise Funeral Directors 650 Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30AM The Church of St. Ann 1253 Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. Interment will follow at Princeton Cemetery, Princeton, NJ. Calling hours will be held on Wednesday evening from 7-9PM at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in Raffaele’s memory to the Wounded Warrior Project P.O. Box 758517 Topeka, Kansas 66675 To send a condolence to the family or for directions please visit www.poulsonvanhise.com