Antoinette Favata, 92, singer and secretary

A memorial prayer service is to be Saturday, July 11, for Antoinette Marie Galizia Favata, 92, a Bucks County native who died Saturday, March 7, of causes related to aging at a hospice in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Mrs. Favata, a singer and secretary, was the mother of U.S. Eastern District Court Judge Cynthia M. Rufe.

"To all who knew her, she was a most warm, generous, and loving person with the ability to give comfort to those in need," her family said in a statement.

She was married to Lucien Russell Favata, who died in 1986.

A native of Bristol Borough, she graduated as valedictorian of her high school class. Mrs. Favata studied voice and opera and became an accomplished singer, performing on radio and later as a soloist in the St. Ann's Church choir in Bristol for many years.

She also encouraged her children to become accomplished in singing and dancing. Cynthia Rufe can remember performing as a child of 9 or 10 with her siblings as the Favata Sisters on the Horn and Hardart Children's Hour, a variety show with a cast of children that was broadcast on WCAU-TV and radio in Philadelphia.

Horn & Hardart, the maker of prepared foods, sponsored the program, using the slogan "Less Work for Mother."

"For a stage mother, she was the kindest, sweetest mother ever," Cynthia Rufe said. "Her devotion was to music and the arts, and she got us involved, too. She stayed up all night making our costumes and would plan our choreography. She was really, really energetic.

"We danced and sang. We thought it was fun, too. We became a local celebrity."

Mrs. Favata worked as the executive secretary to the president of Radio Corp. of America in Princeton before retiring to Florida with her husband in 1982. Years later, she returned to Bucks County, spending summers with her daughter and son-in-law in Newtown and winters in Florida.

"Her entire life was devoted to family, and her happiest moments were spent with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren," her relatives said.

Surviving, besides her daughter, are daughters, Christine M., Celeste M. Rolph, and Cheron M. Camacho; son Lucien R. Jr.; a sister; five grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and nieces and nephews. Another sister survived her but died in May.

A Funeral Mass was held in Royal Palm Beach, Fla. Mrs. Favata was interred next to her husband at Queen of the Universe Cemetery.

A local memorial prayer service is to be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 11, at the Olde Church of St. Andrew, 135 S. Sycamore St., Newtown.

Donations may be made to Trust Bridge Hospice of the Palm Beaches, 5300 East Ave., West Palm Beach, Fla. 33407.