Woodbridge couple's viral story inspires scholarship

• After 67 years together%2C Michael and Olympia DeNittis died hours apart last year.
• Granddaughter AnnMarie McDonald has launched the 67 Foundation memorial scholarship fund.
• The foundation was named in honor of the numbers of years the couple was married.
• For vocational and trade students%2C the scholarship also honors their hard-working%2C blue-collar spirit.

WOODBRIDGE – A vanishing blue-collar way of life recalled by a MyCentralJersey.com story that went viral last year has inspired a memorial scholarship in honor of a township couple who died just 32 hours apart after spending a lifetime together.

The response to the inspiring love affair of Michael and Olympia DeNittis led their granddaughter, AnnMarie McDonald to create in their memory a scholarship fund dedicated to post-secondary students pursuing trade or vocational education. The first fundraiser for the 67 Foundation will be April 16 at Mulberry Street Restaurant, 739 Rahway Ave., Woodbridge.

"Their story ended up going viral and was collectively shared thousands and thousands of times on Facebook, Twitter and the Internet," McDonald, 30, said.

"To this day, people still stop me and say they read it or have heard about them. It was very comforting to see how even in death, they resonated with people all over New Jersey. Some of the comments on Facebook referenced how nice it was that a seamstress and union man were able to create a middle-class life following World War II, something that is much more difficult to do now. It got me thinking, and I decided to create a memorial scholarship fund for post-secondary students pursuing trade or vocational education.

"I figured that there are so many scholarship opportunities for students going to four-year liberal arts colleges — and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that — but students going into trades — our next generation of plumbers, electricians, etc. — really don't have many scholarship opportunities. For students going into trade and vocational schools, there also aren't a lot of student loan opportunities available, either, because they're primarily for students going to a traditional two- and four-year schools."

McDonald named the 67 Foundation in honor of the numbers of years her grandparents were married. She said she recently obtained nonprofit status and launched http://www.the67foundation.org/.

McDonald said she will be spend one year fundraising, then give out 67 scholarships during the next 10 years.

"To students who are going into this line of work and embody my grandparents' spirit, one scholarship for each year they were married," McDonald said.

Mission at Mulberry

Mulberry Street will donate 20 percent of all dinner tabs on April 16, she said.

General Manager Tina Boyer said she wanted the restaurant to get involved because she fondly remembered the MyCentralJersey.com story about the couple.

"The story about AnneMarie's grandparents was touching, and I agree with the scholarship program," Boyer said. "I know how hard it is to pay for school these days, and the opportunities for people who want to go to technical schools to get assistance to pay for it is limited. We have family and friends in the trades and would love to help other people out. Education is important!"

Owner-chef Paul Lagrutta said he, too, was touched by the couple's blue-collar background because his Italian ancestors started out in America as bricklayers and seamstresses. The decline of trade schools and their enrollment made him want to help, he said.

McDonald would like to be able to have a silent auction at Mulberry Street but needs sponsors to donate items. She also eventually would like to have a bingo night with an auction, as well as a 5K charity fun run. She said she will need volunteers to help organize those events.

"People can make donations now at the website," McDonald said.

'Way to heaven'

At 95, Olympia DeNittis died around 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 2, 2014, at JFK Medical Center's Haven Hospice in Edison to "show the way to heaven" to her 94-year-old husband and lifelong friend, Michael. Fiercely determined to hang onto the life he loved, Michael had been battling stage IV colon cancer for nearly four years before he died at 12:23 p.m. on Feb. 3 at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

After a bout with pneumonia, Olympia was admitted into hospice because she refused to eat and her body began to shut down, her granddaughter said.

"I think she was dying of a broken heart, but I also think she wanted to pass first so he wouldn't have to enter heaven without her there to welcome him," McDonald said. "And when my grandmother made up her mind to do something, she did it. She did this as a testament to their love.

"She sensed my grandfather was on borrowed time, and she wanted to make sure she died before him. He didn't want to die. He loved his life and wanted to keep living it. She wanted to show him the way."

Raised a block apart, the couple lived in the Port Reading home where Olympia was born and McDonald now lives.

Childhood sweethearts, the couple married after World War II in their late 20s and had two children — Ann, McDonald's mother, and Michele, who died of Crohn's disease in 1982 at 23. They also are survived by granddaughter Megan McDonald, 26, of the Fords section.

Staff Writer Bob Makin: 732-565-7319; bmakin@MyCentralJersey.com

What you can do

Mulberry Street Restaurant, 739 Rahway Ave., Woodbridge, will donate 20 percent of proceeds to the 67 Foundation scholarship for vocational and trade students from 4 to 10 p.m. on April 16. Contact the restaurant at 732-634-4699 or http://www.mulberrystreetrestaurant.com/. Donations to the 67 Foundation also can be made at http://www.the67foundation.org/ and P.O. Box 133, Port Reading, NJ 07064. Contact the foundation at info@the67foundation.org.