Salvatore N Bartolotta
Salvatore Bartolotta Obituary
Salvatore N. “Tootie”, “Tutti” Bartolotta, 87, of Phillipsburg, died Thursday, December 20, 2018.
Born July 19, 1931 in Phillipsburg, NJ, he was a son of the late Salvatore and Ninfa “Neva” (Onorato) Bartolotta, who Tootie was always proud of the fact his parents immigrated to the United States from Santo Stefano di Camastra, Sicily, Italy.
He served in the Navy as a Commissaryman 3rd Class, aboard the USS Norfolk EDL-1 during the Korean War.
He was a faithful member of St. Philip and St. James Roman Catholic Church, Phillipsburg.
He attended both Phillipsburg Catholic Parochial School and Phillipsburg High School, and received his honorary diploma from the Phillipsburg High School in a veterans ceremony. He was also a varsity letterman in both basketball and football.
Tootie was a retired Laborer and Foreman for the Heavy and General Laborers Local 472, Newark, NJ.
Tootie devoted his life to serving others through his cooking. He started his life-long love of cooking as a young boy working in the kitchens of area restaurants. Throughout his entire life, he continued prepping and mentoring at many food establishments in the Phillipsburg – Easton area.
He and his wife of sixty-three years, the former Mary Rose Carai, owned and operated the Bella Luna Restaurant, Wilson Borough, PA, and later, the Bartolotta’s Schaefer House, South Main and Stockton Streets, Phillipsburg. Tootie and Mary were honored to be selected as “Best In the Lehigh Valley” for Italian restaurants twice by the Valley Monthly Magazine in 1970’s. They were also selected to cook for the cast of “The Dain Curse” in 1978, that included actors James Coburn and Hector Elizondo.
Tutti worked closely with John and Pam Richetta during each Sunday’s Tempo Italiano show, which is the longest running Italian radio program in the Lehigh Valley. He became a part of Tempo Italiano from its very 1st broadcast, which aired in January, 1998. The Richettas say that one of "the most-loved segments every Sunday” for their listeners was the part of the show called “In the Kitchen With Tutti", which first aired in June, 2004 and continued until now. Tutti also helped to create and maintain the Tempo Italiano Villa and Bocce Courts that were next to the Tempo Italiano studios. He was also an important part of every annual Tempo Italiano Celebration and served as a Judge in many of the events that were held. And, to commemorate the love the Richettas have for Tutti Bartolotta, the “In The Kitchen with Tutti” segments will continue on Tempo Italiano! - See more about Tempo Italiano and Tutti here: https://bit.ly/2SYJQa6
For nearly the past 25 years, Tootie was a highly-valued, all-around helper at Warren County Collision Center in Lopatcong Township. This was one of his favorite daily stops where he also catered his good cooking to the guys there every Friday.
In addition to his wife, Tootie is survived by his daughter, Sarah Dragotta and her husband, Samuel, of Doylestown, PA; a sister, Sandra “Santa” Frank, of Phillipsburg;
To his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, he was lovingly known as “Nano”. They are Nicholas Dragotta and his wife, Yuan, and their son, Enzo; Philip Dragotta and his wife Rachel and their children Amelia and Talia; and Rosanne Rauenzahn and her husband Daniel. Rosanne called her grandfather, “Magic in the Kitchen”. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews.
Tootie’s son, Salvatore C. Bartolotta, three brothers: George, Charles, Samuel “Santo”, and a sister, Jennie Cicero, all died earlier.
Visitation will be 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, in the Noto-Wynkoop Funeral Home, 289 S. Main St, Phillipsburg. www.noto-wynkoop.com. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10:00 a.m., Thursday, in St. Philip and St. James Church, 426 S. Main St, Phillipsburg. Burial will be in the parish cemetery, Greenwich Township, NJ.
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