Pirtea, Gheorghe – “George”
With heavy heart, our family is announcing the passing of our beloved father and grandfather Gheorghe – “George” Pirtea. Born in Pantelimon, a small suburb of Bucharest, Romania on May 12, 1938, he died peacefully after a fierce 2-week fight. His already fragile body that fought through 2 strokes and poor functioning kidneys could not bear the impact of Covid. The Star of our family, our leader, the pioneer who carved the way for all of us towards freedom from Communist Romania, passed away at Morristown Medical Hospital on the morning of January 7th, 2022, a Holy day in our Romanian Orthodox religion, being the birth of St John the Baptist.
With a personality bigger than him, an oversized, generous heart, always jumping to help everyone around him, tough as a rock, ambitious with a “never give up attitude”, funny, witty, with a “loud” mouth that could get him in trouble at times, he paved the way for his family to arrive in a new country where he started a new life. He planned his departure from behind the Iron Wall for many years. In October 1984, with only a few USD in his pocket, he got on a train from Bucharest, destination to Athens, Greece, leaving his wife and 2 kids home, telling them that we will meet again “soon”. He never looked back. After working multiple jobs in Athens, he arrived in Toronto, Canada where he started a new journey.
In 2006, George became a grandfather of Triplets. Given unique circumstances, once again he and his wife Mariana left Toronto, Canada to move to Randolph, New Jersey beginning a new journey to help raise the Triplets- Gabriela, Stefan and Nicholas! 2021 was a fulfilling year for our family as he got to witness his son Marcel getting married and welcomed his 4th grandchild, Isabella Marie.
The last 2 major events of his life left him with a sense of inner peace. Rest in Peace dad/grandpa, you will forever be loved and missed.
With love and gratitude,
Mariana, Juliana, Marcel
Gabriela, Stefan & Nick.
Smith – Taylor – Ruggiero Funeral Home
