Alfonse R. Rossi Devoted husband, father, grandfather and brother, longtime educator, 79 Mr. Alfonse R. Rossi, 79, of Nutley, N.J., passed away on Thursday, May 4, 2017. The funeral will be conducted from the Biondi Funeral Home of Nutley, 540 Franklin Ave., on Monday, May 8, at 9:30 a.m. There will be a Funeral Mass celebrated at St. Mary's Church, Nutley, at 10:45 a.m. The entombment will be at Holy Cross Chapel Mausoleum, North Arlington, N.J. Visitation will be on Sunday, May 7, from 1 to 5 p.m. For directions or to send online condolences, please visit our website at biondifuneralhome.com. Alfonse was born in the Ironbound Section of Newark, N.J., on Nov. 29, 1937. He resided in Nutley for 48 years, where he raised his family with his wife, Joanne. He attended Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he received a B.A. in history and later an M.A. in history at Seton Hall University. He also attended Seton Hall Graduate School of Education, where he received certification as a school administrator. For 25 years, he worked for the Newark Board of Education, first as teacher and then rising to principal. He was principal of several schools, among them East Side High, Science High and Barringer Prep and Co-ed High. He then served as assistant to the executive superintendent of the Newark public schools. Upon retiring, he worked as an adjunct professor of history at Union County College for 14 years. Alfonse enjoyed keeping up with politics and was an avid sports fan devoted to the NY Giants and Yankees. But most of all, he enjoyed time spent at his beach home in Brigantine, N.J. He was married for 50 years to his wife, Joanne (nee Acquaro), and raised three daughters, Michele Pandolf and her husband, Mark; Lynn Marie Di Legge and her husband, Edward, and Alisa Gennace and her husband, Jonathan. He was called "Papa" by his six beloved grandchildren, Summer and Kayla Pandolf, Nicholas and Olivia Di Legge, and Christina and Daniel Gennace. He is also survived by his sister, Mickey Biondi, and her husband, Anthony, of Nutley; his brother, Joseph Rossi and his wife, Kathy, of Wall Township, N.J., and his many loving nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the Nutley Volunteer Emergency and Rescue Squad, P. O. Box 172, Nutley, NJ 07110, www.nutleyrescue.org.