Katherine Melito

Katherine “Kaye” Melito’s adoring husband, Tom, was by her side when she passed away on April 10, 2023, at the age of 80 in their home in Glenwood Landing, NY. A funeral service will take place at Saint Boniface on Monday, April 17, at 10 am with Reverend Josef Norys of Saint Boniface officiating. Burial will follow at Cemetery of the Holy Rood. Visitation hours will be held at Whitting Funeral Home on Sunday, April 16, 2023, from 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm. The funeral arrangements will be handled by Whitting Funeral Home.

Kaye Melito was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee to John and Naomi Gersich on August 26, 1942. She graduated from Lincoln-Way Central High School in Illinois in 1960 and went on to earn a B.S. in Education and M.A. in Foreign Language from Southern Illinois University. She won a Fulbright Grant, which enabled her to live in Lima, Peru for one year and central Mexico for three months to teach English while further developing her Spanish language skills. Kaye was then employed as a Spanish teacher for North Shore High School for three years, where she met her colleague and future husband, Thomas Melito. After marrying Thomas in 1968, she stayed at home to raise their two boys for almost ten years before earning an M.S. in Library Science at Long Island University Post. Kaye was then employed as the school librarian for Glen Cove High School for 20 years, where her warmth and knowledge of Spanish greatly increased the attendance of the many Spanish-speaking students at the GCHS library. Kaye enjoyed spending time with family and dear friends, as well as hobbies such as domestic and international travel, reading, collecting Depression-era glassware, investing, and genealogy while using her library skills to trace her family’s lineage back to 1006 (not a typo!).

Kaye is survived by her husband of almost 55 years, Thomas P. Melito, of Glenwood Landing, New York. Other treasured family members include beloved sons Thomas J. Melito and Michael W. Melito; daughters-in-law Kate Melito and Stacey Melito; cherished grandchildren Trevor Melito, Thomas R. Melito, Molly Melito, Rebecca Melito, Michael “Will” Melito II, Ella Melito, and step-grandchild Jackson Vitti; sister-in-law Dolores Albertuzzi, brother-in-law Robert Albertuzzi; nephew Robert Mosher and niece Lisa Garry. She is preceded in death by her parents, John and Naomi Gersich.

Instead of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center at MSKCC, PO Box 5028, Hagerstown, MD 21740. The family would like to extend their gratitude to the talented and compassionate staff at Memorial Sloan Kettering for extending her life for two additional and wonderful decades.

Kaye's family and friends will miss her warmth, generosity, perseverance, resilience, and love.