Mario Giuseppe Romanelli did not come to the United States until 1949, when he 18, but he became a fixture in the Five Towns. He and his cousin, Angelo Seganti, founded Associated Marble in 1964, in Queens, before moving to Inwood the following year. Romanelli, a resident of East Atlantic Beach, died on Oct. 7. He was 86. Born in Italy in 1931, Romanelli’s father worked as a coal miner in West Virginia before fighting in World War I.
“Mario would always say his greatest accomplishment in his life was his family,” wrote his grandson Nicholas Romanelli. “Mario touched the lives of so many people. His warmth and smile, generosity and kindness, wisdom and friendship radiated through many lives and generations of family and friends.”
