Woman, struck by car, dies

A 72-year-old woman pedestrian who was hit by a truck and critically injured on Sept. 2 at a busy East Rockaway intersection has died.
According to the Nassau County Police Department’s 4th Precinct, Gilorama Esposito, a 43-year resident of East Rockaway and a native of Naples, Italy, was crossing outside the marked crosswalk near Ocean and Atlantic avenues late morning when she was struck by a 2004 Ford Explorer. She was taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries on Sept. 14.
“She was on her way to Pathmark,” said Esposito’s niece Carmela Guarino, also of East Rockaway. “She could always be seen walking everywhere around the neighborhood. She was always laughing and smiling. We will miss her very much.”
Esposito, who lived alone in a condominium in the village, was a diminutive woman who never married or had children — but to her 13 nieces and nephews, she was best known for her delicious Italian cooking. “She enjoyed having company, and she cooked for everyone,” said nephew Leo Esposito. “Her meatballs were the best!”
Gilorama Esposito was a factory worker for many years at the Berg building on Ocean Avenue, until it closed about 10 years ago. She never talked much about her work, Guarino said. She was a parishioner at St. Raymond’s in East Rockaway, never missing a Sunday Mass, according to her family.
“When the priest recognized Gilorama at the funeral service, he smiled and said, ‘Yes … she was always smiling,’” Guarino recounted. “But she could be stubborn in her ways. But she was also very giving … she never forgot a birthday … and yes, she was always laughing.”
Guarino said that her aunt was surrounded by family and friends when she died. “I believe she heard our voices, and that meant a lot to her,” she said. “She was all about her family.”
Esposito is survived by a brother, Erasmo Esposito, a sister, Rosa Esposito, and a sister-in-law, Josephine Esposito. Two brothers, Vincenzo and Joseph, predeceased her. She also had 20 grandnieces and grandnephews.