Leo Montini, beloved family man and deacon in the Roman Catholic Church, died peacefully in his sleep at home on August 15, 2022. He was 92 years old. Leo was born in 1930 in Montecchia di Crosara, a province of Verona, Italy, to parents Vincenzo and Maria Montini. In 1949 he immigrated to the USA as a member of the Comboni Missionaries, serving at San Antonio de Pala Asistencia, a Native American Reservation in Pala, California. In 1953, he was drafted by the Army. Leo was stationed in Maison Fort, France, with the Army Corps of Engineers, and was naturalized as an American citizen at the embassy in Paris by John Foster Dulles, U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight Eisenhower. Leo married Joan Michalak of Brooklyn, NY, in 1956. Together they raised four children in Verona, NJ. Leo supported his family as a sheet metal welder with Local 28, even working on the World Trade Center Twin Towers during the 1970s. Guided by his deep faith, in midlife Leo began studying to become a permanent deacon. He was ordained in 1981 and served the Archdiocese of Newark as a parish deacon, the Catholic chaplain at University Hospital Newark, and the deacon assigned to the Italian American Apostolate. In 1985, Archbishop Peter Gerety presented the Caritas Medal to Deacon Leo Montini to honor his outstanding service, leadership, charity and achievement in his parish and throughout the Archdiocese of Newark. In 1997, Leo and Joan retired to Whiting, NJ, and Leo continued his work as a deacon with the Archdiocese of Trenton, assigned to local parishes (Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and Saint Maximilian Kolbe) and as a Catholic chaplain at Community Hospital. Leo is survived by Joan, his devoted wife of 65 years; their children Theresa, Vincent (Patricia Garrison), Joseph (Wendy Miller), and Mary Ellen (Robert Stickel); their grandchildren Matthew, Laura (Matthew Pallone), Carly, Sarah, and James Stickel; great granddaughter Audrey Joan; and nephews and nieces including Elizabeth Skalski of NC, and Giuseppe, Maria Rosa, and Angelina Montini and Giuseppe, Mariano, and Vincenzo Dal Cero of Italy. A public viewing will be held on Saturday August 20, from 10:00-10:45 a.m. at The Chapel of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church located at 30 Schoolhouse Road, Whiting, NJ 08759, immediately followed by an 11:00 a.m. mass of Christian Burial. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Sister Agnese Montini fund to support the Comboni Missionary nuns in El Obeid, Sudan; 1318 Nagel Road, Cincinnati, OH 45255. Previous Events Viewing AUG 20. 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM (ET) All Saints Chapel at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton RC Church 30 Schoolhouse Road Whiting, NJ 08759 Loading map Mass of Christian Burial AUG 20. 11:00 AM (ET) All Saints Chapel at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton RC Church 30 Schoolhouse Road Whiting, NJ 08759 Loading map