Visitation will be held ~ Thursday, March 6, 2025
3:00pm-8:00pm with a 7:00pm Rosary
Fred Wood Funeral Home, Rice ~ Modetz
36100 Five Mile Rd. Livonia (E. of Levan)
Funeral Service ~ Friday, March 7, 2025
Instate 10:00am Mass 10:30am
St. Kenneth Catholic Church
14951 N. Haggerty Rd. Plymouth (S. of Five Mile Rd)
Josephine "Jo" Tarditi, Age 82 of Livonia, went home to be with our Lord on February 28, 2025. Cherished wife of Carlo for over 63 years. Adored daughter of the late Michael and Virginia Alestra. Beloved mother of Michelle (Eugene) Kosowski, David and Lisa (Timothy) Mailley. Proud Nana of Sarah, Nicole, Cameron and Lauren. Loving sister of Malcolm Alestra and the late Michael Alestra. Dear sister-in-law of Marlene Alestra. Also survived by many other loving family and friends.
Today, we celebrate the life of our beloved, joyous, and sweet Nana. Nana to Sarah, Nicole, Lauren, and Cameron. Wife and forever best friend to her beloved Carlo. Mother to Michelle, David, and Lisa. Sister to Malcom and Mike. Aunt, cousin , and friend to so many others. She is fondly remembered for her vibrant smile and unforgettable laugh. Despite many struggles, including a diagnosis with myotonic muscular dystrophy, Josie never stopped emulating her resilient spirit with optimism and positivity. She saw too much joy and love in the world around her and felt too blessed to ever worry much about anything she didn’t have.
She found joy and beauty in everything and shared it with all around her with her unique creativity. It’s unlikely she knew it herself, but she was a writer. She was a whizz with words. Prior to her surrender to modern technology and smart phones, she loved to email back and forth with family and friends. And once she got a smart phone, texting became a passion of hers. While she had progressively lost the use of her legs in the last 10 years of her life, her freedom to spread love and express herself with long and thoughtful text messages and voicemails never wavered. She was a woman of many words, all of them sweet. Nana’s love was powerful and you didn’t have to be physically in her presence to feel its impact.
Nana was the matriarch of our family. She was everyone’s keeper and she loved fiercely. You could count on her to make sure everyone else was reminded of your birthday, for she loved celebrating those she cared for. When her kids were young, she made each feel special on their birthday with homemade custom cut-out cakes. She could master every theme. That love extended to her grandchildren as well as she would diligently say a rosary for each grand kid for every upcoming test and major life event.
Nana always celebrated the all of the good in life. No matter what came her way, she was ready with a smile on her face. This is something we will all carry forward as we remember her spirit. Despite her not being physically present with us, we can find the joy in the love we shared and the time we had. We can smile knowing that she is free, no longer bound by earthly limitations. And we can carry on as she would want us to, with a smile on our faces. We are so lucky that she was ours.
