Leo Celi, age 94, passed away April 6 surrounded by his wife, Josephine Celi and daughter, Elaine Celi Bentley.
Leo was born in New York City on April 4, 1924 and moved to Red Bank in 1940 with his parents, Alfred and Helen Celi, his sister, Mildred Celi Esposito and brother, Richard Celi.
Leo served for four years in the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre during WWII and was honorably discharged in 1946.
He married Josephine Fontana of Red Bank in 1947. For 25 years, Leo was employed as a product manager of a large commercial printing company located in Millburn. After Leo retired, he started his own personal car service called “Leo’s Car Service” which he ran until the age of 85. His interests and hobbies during the years were golf, tennis and bowling and he was a huge football Giants and Mets fan his entire life. In his later years, he and Josephine participated in many senior citizen showcases and they were well known in the Shadow Lake community where they lived for 40 happy years.
Leo is survived by his loving wife, Josephine; daughter Elaine; grandson Matthew; and sister, Mildred Esposito.
A Memorial service for Leo was held at John E. Day Funeral Home, Red Bank, on April 11.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Leo’s name to Alzheimer’s New Jersey, 425 Eagle Rock Ave #203, Roseland, NJ 07068.
