Fred Raffa

Fred Raffa, devoted husband, father and grandfather passed away peacefully on August 9, 2021 with his beloved wife, Claudia, by his side.

Fred was born in Irvington, NJ on July 19, 1932. He was the youngest child of Edna (nee Weber) and Benedict Raffa. He was an avid sports fan and played first base at Irvington High School and later at Upsala College, where he was captain of the baseball team and president of the Pi Delta Phi Owls. He served in the US Army, playing on the Army baseball team that travelled throughout the US and Japan competing against local Army teams.

Fred retired as the Director of Management of the New Jersey Housing Finance Mortgage Agency. For many years he was a parishioner and Eucharistic Minister at Christ the King Church in Hillside, N.J. and later a communicant at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Mountainside, NJ. He was a member of the Hillside Knights of Columbus, the Mountainside PBA, the Mountainside Lyons Club and a volunteer at the Community Food Bank of NJ. He was also a regular attendee of the bi-weekly McDonalds Men’s Breakfast Club.

Fred was kind and loved by all who knew him and if he happened to see you, he’d be sure to ask, “How ya hittin’ them moose?” He is survived by his loving wife of 63 years, Claudia, children Cheryl and her husband Paul Lotito, Carole Raffa and Fred Raffa and his adored grandchildren Allison Lotito and Alex Lotito.

A celebration of Fred’s life will be held at Higgins and Bonner Echo Lake Funeral Home, 582 Springfield Avenue., Westfield, NJ on Thursday, August 12,2021 from 4pm-8pm. The family will gather with relatives and friends for a Mass of Christian Burial on Friday, August 13, 2021 at 10am at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, 300 Central Avenue, Mountainside, NJ. Interment will follow at Hollywood Memorial Park in Union, NJ.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

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