Emily J. DiBlasi

Emily (nee Grande) DiBlasi was born on May 9, 1924 to Rocco and Julia (Amato) Grande. One of ten children, Emily and her siblings, Freddie, Mary, Chrissy, Angel, Frankie, Annie, Charley (pronounced “Cholley” in Philadelphia-speak), Mikey, and Marguerite grew up in West Philadelphia. A survivor of the Great Depression, there was happiness in the lean times and Emily always enjoyed time spent with her extensive family. She matriculated to West Philadelphia High School.

When the United States entered WWII, like her peers in The Greatest Generation, Emily wanted to contribute. She left high school six months before graduation to train as a machinist at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Emily worked on the USS Wisconsin and the USS New Jersey, Iowa-class battleships that provided crucial bombardment support for the Pacific island invasions in 1944-45.

Emily always said that one of the proudest moments of her life was when she witnessed the launching of the USS Wisconsin on anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, December 7, 1943. The craftsmanship of Emily and thousands of other Rosie the Riveters like her can still be appreciated afloat in Camden, NJ and Norfolk, VA.

In fact, many years after helping to build these ships, Emily returned to the Battleship New Jersey and was welcomed as a red carpet guest. She delighted the most experienced guides with facts and stories of the “Big J” that they did not know.

While building the ships that helped with the war which occupied her days, her lunch breaks and nights soon focused on Edward DiBlasi, who was also working at the Naval Yard, employed designing the vessels being built. They married in March 1946. After initially living in West Philadelphia, they soon moved to 29 Brookside Road and then onto Glenn Circle in Erdenheim, PA, where Emily would live for sixty-three years, building a caring, supportive, and loving home life.

Emily and Ed welcomed Julie, Ed, Jr., Paul, and Jeffry. They were happy, and with an extensive family (Ed, Sr. was the youngest of sixteen children), there was always fun afoot. They spent their summers at 19th and Atlantic Avenue in North Wildwood, NJ, where the house was always packed with people and even the morning’s strangers would be treated to a sumptuous breakfast.

Oh yes, the food! Emily was a fantastic chef. Her meals were Michelin-star worthy. She drew on her Italian heritage (Her father was from Calabria, her mother from Caserta) to create gravy, meatballs, and pasta that she catalogued with handwritten recipes using simple, fresh ingredients.

Later, influenced by the Korean dramas and Spanish-language telenovelas she came to enjoy (following along with close captioned translations), she branched into other cultures and cuisines with the same exceptional results.

For her Christmas Eve seven fishes meal, she would travel to the Italian Market to examine and purchase the perfect cuts and fillets. If she knew somebody was especially fond of one of her dishes, cakes or pies, it would magically appear, seemingly when the child, nephew, friend, sister or grandchild needed the comfort most. She just knew.

Family and friends came for the food but stayed for the conversation, and Emily could certainly entertain, hold court, and was always willing to join in song. Over the years she counseled her sons and their friends on their girl troubles, with many friends becoming smitten with Emily and her charming, generous nature.

Emily was a lifetime Philadelphia Phillies fan. She knew the details of favorite players over the years from Del Ennis to Dick Allen, Mike Schmidt, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Bryce Harper. Emily witnessed all but one of the Phillies pennant-winning seasons in their history, plus their two world championships.

The happiness was punctuated with unspeakable grief. Two children, Julie and Jeff, and grandson, Nicky, passed away young. She survived the passing of Edward Sr. she evolved. She enjoyed traveling with her sisters and her dear friend, Gerry. And she continued to drive, even renewing her license at age 100!

Emily was a soothing and loving presence with her family and especially her daughters in law, Marie (Ed, Jr.), Nongnuch “Joy” (Paul), Dana (Jeffry), her grandchildren, Stacey, Nicky and Julia and great-grandchildren, Presley and Aleks.

Emily later bought a beach house in Brigantine, NJ and enjoyed playing the slots in Atlantic City, NJ. She was also composed heartfelt poems for all occasions. Her religion could best be described as family, good food, music, and empathy for the sick and suffering.

Emily passed away on June 2, 2025, aged 101, at St. Joseph Villa, her residence for the past year. She lived a wonderful, happy, patriotic life and left a legacy of love, joy, and great food to be cherished by all who had the pleasure of knowing her.