Josephine S. (Lentini) Bottari

Mrs. Josephine S. (Lentini) Bottari, of Waltham, died Friday, June 7, 2024 at Lowell General Hospital.  She was 92.

Josephine was born in Boston on June 22, 1931, a daughter of the late Dominic and Carmela (Calapai) Lentini, and was raised in the North End before moving to Dorchester as a teen.  She was a graduate of Boston Girls Latin School and after that earned a certificate in bacteriology from the Boston Dispensary.

She worked as a lab technician and later as medical technologist  at Boston Floating Hospital and at Children's Hospital in Boston.  In later years she worked at Waltham Hospital and at the Boston University Student Health Center, retiring when she was 65.

In June, 1955 she married North End native Francis J. 'Frank' Bottari at Saint Margaret's Church in Dorchester and the pair enjoyed sixty happy years together until Frank's death in January, 2016. They lived in Everett for ten years before making Waltham their lifelong home in 1966.

Josephine was long active at Saint Jude Parish in Waltham where she and Frank were members of the Couples Club and where she belonged to the Ladies Sodality and participated in the parish Pre-Cana program.  When her children were young she was a member of the Warrendale PTA and was a life member of the Regina Margherita Lodge #1402 of the Sons of Italy in Waltham. In addition the couple were longtime election volunteers and were poll workers and wardens in Waltham's Ward 4 precincts.

During the summer months the family enjoyed yearly visits to the Cape and to Narragansett, Rhode Island.

Josephine leaves her children, Francis J. 'Frank' Bottari, Jr. (Donna) of Acton, Stephen M. Bottari (Jania Andreotti) and Ann C. Leedberg (Gary) of Hampstead, New Hampshire; her grandchildren, Stephanie Sanceda (Vic), Stephen Bottari, Jr., Brian Bottari (Jessica), Jillian Bottari, Lauren Sherman (Hunter), Michael Bottari, Angela Bottari and Sarah Bottari; her great-grandchildren, Siena Sanceda, Olivia Sanceda, RJ Sanceda, Catalina Sanceda and Banks Bottari; her brother and sisters-in-law, John and Lois Bottari of Wakefield and Maxine Lentini of Oregon and several nieces and nephews.  

She was also the sister of the late Anthony Lentini.

Family and friends will honor and remember Josephine's life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Thursday, June 20th from 4 to 7 p.m. and again at 9:30 a.m. on Friday morning, June 21st before leaving in procession to Saint Jude Church, 147 Main Street, Waltham where her Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Burial will be in Mount Feake Cemetery, Waltham.

Memorial donations may be made to Catholic Charities of Boston, 275 W Broadway, Boston, MA 02127 or at ccab.org.