Josephine Buoscio was born in Italy and moved to the US in 1965. Her husband, Tony, had come to the US in 1962 and moved in with his parents and younger brother, who had settled in Westfield the year before. They were sponsored by families who were already settled in Westfield, and it took seven years from the submission of their application to its approval. Josephine and Tony lived in a duplex with Tony’s parents for three years until they were able to purchase property in Cranford. Tony and his brother Carmine started a construction company and built a duplex on this property that they then moved into. Most of Tony’s customers were in Westfield, and they knew that the schools here were very good, so they decided to raise their children here. In 1972, Tony began construction on their home in Westfield on Landsdowne Avenue, across the street from Jefferson School. They moved into their home in 1974, when their son, Anthony, was three and a half, and Josephine was seven months pregnant with their daughter, Angela. They felt very welcomed by their neighbors, who were all longtime Westfield residents, mostly immigrant Italian families. This was their first and only family home, and the pride they felt in achieving the American Dream was immense. As immigrants, they felt very comfortable in the community. Tony was a master stone mason. He left his family’s farm in Italy at the age of 14 to train in Rome as an apprentice. He was a perfectionist and extremely honest. He completed each job himself and built his business by word-of-mouth references from his happy customers. He rarely needed to leave the town for work and often had a waiting list of projects. He and Josephine were very grateful for the livelihood the town provided for their family. They were also proud members of the local Italian-American community. The Westfield chapter of UNICO National (Unity, Neighborliness, Integrity, Charity and Opportunity) was chartered in their home in 1974. UNICO is the largest Italian-American service organization in the U.S. It was founded in 1922 to unite Italian-Americans to promote their heritage and culture through the support of charitable, medical research, educational and literary projects. Over the years, they built the Italian community in Westfield, and their fund-raising efforts have supported local scholarships, Cooley’s Anemia Research and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. When she first arrived in 1965, Josephine worked as a seamstress at Hilton & Sons fine men’s clothing factory in Linden. The Hilton brand produced beautiful, highquality men’s suits and jackets that were sold at high-end retailers. The seamstresses were paid based on the number of pieces they finished each shift. At that time, Ralph Lauren was a young employee there, and Norman Hilton was the first significant investor in the Ralph Lauren brand. Josephine worked there until her children were born. When they were in high school and middle school, respectively, she worked part-time for a few years at The Westfield Brace Company, also as a seamstress, producing different types of orthopedic braces. Their children, Anthony and Angela, received excellent educations in the Westfield public school system, which provided them with wonderful opportunities to build successful lives. When they graduated from Westfield High School, Tony and Josephine were very proud, knowing that they were prepared for college and beyond. Anthony’s wife, Carolyn, is also a Westfield native, and Josephine says that it has been a joy to watch her son and daughter-in-law raise their four children here. The oldest three have graduated from WHS and gone on to wonderful schools. Julia graduated from Bucknell in 2022 and now works for Merck. Mikaela graduated from Elon and is in the process of moving back to New Jersey to begin a new position at Met Life. Anthony is a sophomore at Penn State, and their youngest, Sofia, will be graduating from WHS in 2026. Josephine credits their parents, our community in Westfield, and our schools for the wonderful adults they are becoming. She says that Westfield was and is a perfect place to raise a family. Josephine and Tony also found a wonderful community at St. Helen’s parish, and became involved in its activities. Tony passed away in 2016, but Josephine is still very involved in programs offered through St. Helen’s, including the community garden, the soup kitchen at St. Joseph Social Service Center in Elizabeth, and the Complete Care nursing home on Lamberts Mill Road. Josephine feels very grateful for the support of LifeLong Westfield. She says that the events, workshops and field trips they offer help fill her calendar with informational and enjoyable activities. In addition, she feels that the program that allows seniors to schedule a yearly visit from the Westfield Fire Department to check smoke and carbon monoxide alarms for maintenance has been very reassuring. She is happy that Westfield is so supportive of its senior citizens.
