Sandhills_Sentinel

Pia Orlandi died on Friday, November 2, 2018 at her home in Pinehurst, N.C. She was 86.

She was born Pia Papile on July 6, 1932 in Scafa, a small town in the Abruzzo region of Italy, the daughter of Ermenegildo Papile and Lucia D’Intinosante.

A funeral mass will be held on Saturday, November 10, at 9 am at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 160 East Vermont Ave., Southern Pines, N.C. 28387.

After a childhood in Italy that was marked by World War II, she traveled as a young woman to the United States to care for an aging relative who lived in New York City. At a pattern-cutting shop in the Garment District she met Leo Orlandi, whose parents also had come to the United States from Abruzzo and who spoke the same Italian dialect as her family. 

They married in 1958 in New York City and lived in Fort Lee, NJ, before moving to Kinnelon, NJ, to raise two children. In 1962 Pia became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

The couple also lived in Blairstown, NJ, and Rancho Mirage, CA, before retiring to Pinehurst to golf. Despite her tiny frame, Pia was a strong tennis player and an accomplished golfer, taking trophies at courses in Rancho Mirage and Pinehurst. Friends and family knew her for her impeccable fashion sense and her wit.

She is survived by her daughter, Lorraine Orlandi and husband Richard Jacobsen, of San Francisco; by her son, Geoffrey Orlandi and wife Barbara, of Blairstown; by her grandchildren Vincent and Dominique Rose Orlandi and Gina Jacobsen; by her niece, Renata Vernacchia and husband Roberto, of Rome, and her grandnephews Simone and Marco Vernacchia, as well as cousins, grandnieces and grandnephews in Italy and the United States. 

Her husband, Leo, died in 2015. She also was predeceased by her sisters, Nina and Gina, and by her parents. 

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to the Alzheimer’s Association 8180 Greensboro Drive, Suite 400 McLean, VA 22102.

Services are entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.

To send flowers or a remembrance gift to the family of Pia Orlandi, please visit Boles’ Tribute Store.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email