Festa 2025 is dedicated to the memory and lifework of Antoinette “Toni” Marie (Rossi) Koytek. A loyal Festa volunteer and a member of the Festa Italiana NC Board of Directors, Toni’s life is an exemplar of the best of so many of our Festa patrons and volunteers. She was born and raised in Sayre, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Mattia Rossi and Yolanda (Corsi) Rossi, with roots in the Abruzzo and Lazio regions of Italy,

As a younger adult, Toni held several positions before IBM recruited her as an IT business planner in 1999 for its IBM Endicott, New York, campus, where she served until her retirement in 2019. Toni and her husband of 23 years, Anthony (okay, we know, “Anthony & Antoinette”), met while both were working at IBM Endicott.

In 2019, Anthony and Toni found their way in retirement to Apex, North Carolina, where they built a beautiful home and forged iron-clad personal and service friendships in their adopted community, including their joint membership in the Triangle Sons and Daughters of Italy Lodge. In retirement, Toni continued to work part-time at Stylish Living in Apex and relished the beautiful relationships she enjoyed with her customers and workplace colleagues.

Toni left us far too early in January 2025 after an agonizingly brief bout with heart disease.

We are faithfully confident that as you walk through our 2025 Festa, Toni and her smile will be tagging along side by side with you and your family, happy for you and at peace.

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