Her Story
Maria Lombardo — born Maria Pozza, "Min" to those who loved her, and Grandma Ree to her grandchildren — filled every room she entered. Beloved wife of Rich Lombardo and devoted mother to her three boys, Joe, John, and Justin Candelore — her heart.
She was a South Philadelphia girl through and through, raised among the rowhouses and stoops of a proud Italian neighborhood steeped in tradition — where Sunday gravy simmered all afternoon, the whole block knew your name, and family was everything. She carried that neighborhood with her wherever she went: in her cooking, in her warmth, and in her open door. Her kitchen was the heart of the family — roosters on the wallpaper, apples on the canisters, her Italian favorites always on the stove, and always a seat for one more.
She was a beautiful woman with unmistakable style — always impeccably dressed, a designer bag on her arm and the heels she never saved for special occasions, because being with her family was the special occasion. However fashionable she looked, she was never too dressed up to pull you into the kitchen and feed you.
This page is a living tribute — a place where her family and friends can keep her stories, her recipes, and her photographs together, so they can be passed down to her great-granddaughter Alana and every grandchild still to come. Add your memory below. That's how we keep her at the table.
