Antonietta Giannantonio - Greissle (Toni to her friends) was born on February 19, 1927 in Naples, Italy. She was one of two daughters, who lost their father at a very young age when he died in an accident at his radio shop. Her mother later remarried.

World War II brought hunger and hard times to Naples, and Toni remembered it well. How she had to walk miles for a loaf of bread. She told of seeing Nazis march in and out of Naples, followed by the Americans. 

One of those soldiers fighting in Naples, on the side of the Americans, was an Austrian refugee who she met at a dance. After the war he traveled back to Italy to bring her to the States, where first they lived with his family at 1 W 100th Street on Central Park West. They started a family, Adriana, Walter and Eddie.  In 1964 she divorced her husband.

Toni subsequently moved to Washington Heights and lived at 875 West 181st Street, Apartment 1L, for 54 years where she raised her children, and also cared for her grandchildren Jennifer, Vanessa and Vincent.

She left us on Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019 and will be deeply missed by those who knew her well.