City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Robert James D’Ambrosio
Wilson, North Carolina
Age 65.
Died 03/18/2022.
December 21, 1956-March 18, 2022
Robert James D’Ambrosio, age 65, of Wilson, NC, passed away peacefully at the SECU Hospice Home in Pittsboro, NC, on March 18, 2022, after a long and courageous battle with cancer.
“Rob”, or “Bobby” as he was known in his younger years, was born on December 21, 1956, in the Bronx, NY and grew up in Yorktown Heights, NY and Tuxedo Park, NY. After high school, he attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and graduated with his associate degree in Culinary Arts in 1977. Over the next 20 years, he worked as a chef at several restaurants in New York, including Artie’s Warehouse and Tavern-on-the-Green in New York City.
Rob met his wife, Wendy, when he was working as a chef at Silvano’s Restaurant in Somers, NY, and she was working for his sister Denise at the Westchester County Attorney’s Office in White Plains, NY. Denise set them up on a blind date, which apparently was successful. In 1996, they got married and moved to Wilson, NC, Wendy’s hometown. Rob went to work for Vermillion’s Food Service at their Carolina Turkeys location in Mt. Olive, NC. Later, he was hired as the General Manager of Denny’s of Wilson. In 2000, he went to work for Schwan’s Home Delivery food service.
In 2002, Rob left the food services industry to spend more time with Wendy and their daughters, Shannon and Carlin. He went to work for Terminex, Inc. as the sales manager of their Wilson, NC office.
In 2007, Rob became a licensed Termite Inspector with Rid-A-Pest of Wilson, NC. He retired from Rid-A-Pest in November, 2020, due to his illness.
Rob was known for his love of animals, especially cats. His uncanny ability to communicate with animals garnered him the nickname “Dr. DoLittle”. He also had a love of plants and loved to see them grow from seedlings. Rob was known for his sense of humor; he made people laugh by doing light-hearted but hilarious impersonations of them. He was a long-time sports fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Yankees. He and Wendy often attended Hurricanes hockey games or watched them on TV.
Rob was an “old-school” kind of guy. He never got rid of his 1992 Pontiac GrandAm, the car he and Wendy drove in on their first date. He bought a black 1999 Pontiac TransAm, added red detailing and hung dice from the rearview mirror. He loved all kinds of music, from the Moody Blues to Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble’, Michael Jackson, the Black-Eyed Peas, and Meghan Trainor. His favorite TV shows were The Twilight Zone, Star Trek (the original series), The Andy Griffith Show, Seinfeld, The Honeymooners, and “I Love Lucy”. His favorite movies were “The Water Boy” and “Moonstruck”. Rob was a “homebody”, he enjoyed spending time at home with Wendy and his cats and cooking meals for his family, especially spaghetti with sausages and meatballs and corned beef with cabbage.
Rob is survived by his wife, Wendy Grode, of Wilson, NC, their daughters Shannon D’Ambrosio and Carlin D’Ambrosio, of Durham, NC, mother-in-law (“Mom”) Miriam Grode of Wilson, NC, sister Denise D’Ambrosio and brother Michael D’Ambrosio of White Plains, NY, and brother Frank D’Ambrosio of Huntington Station, NY. He was predeceased by his parents Leonard D’Ambrosio and Irene D’Ambrosio, of White Plains, NY and father-in-law, Harvey Grode, of Wilson, NC.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the North Carolina Cancer Hospital, The SECU Hospice Home, The American Cancer Society, or charity of your choice.
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.