Forever in their hearts. Angela “Big Ang” Raiola was celebrated by friends and family at a memorial service attended by 500 guests on Monday, February 22. During the funeral, which was held at Brooklyn’s Basilica of Regina Pacis, Big Ang’s sister Janine Detore recalled her final moments.
“A few days before her death, my sister said she was at peace with dying and she was ready,” Detore told the crowd. “I said, ‘I’m not!’ She said, ‘Get over it!’” According to an attendee, Detore smiled while wiping away tears as she recalled the sweet moment.
“She was a star long before TV,” Detore continued. “Mob Wives didn’t make her a star, she made the show a hit.”
Big Ang’s sister went on to share that they made a pact to “care for” each other’s kids and grandkids and that the VH1 star was “totally at peace.”
As previously reported, Raiola died on Thursday, February 18, at the age of 55 from cancer. On Sunday, her sister and her kids A.J. and Raquel, as well as her estranged husband, Neil Murphy, and Mob Wives costars Renee Graziano, Marissa Fiore and Natalie Guercio, attended a visitation ahead of the funeral.
Big Ang was dressed in a fur coat and and her open casket was surrounded by flowers. A DJ also played music, which an attendee told Us was “the way Ang would have wanted it.”
