Obituaries
Bernice D'Amico, 1917-2011
D'Amico met her husband at a roller skating rink in Pennsylvania and the two came to IB in the 1950s. Family members remember her as a religious person who hosted a Bible study every week.
Longevity runs in Bernice D’Amico’s family.
Last year, her cousin celebrated a 100th birthday, and other family are well into their 90s. One of her grandmothers lived until she was 98.
D’Amico lived as long as many of her relatives but passed away May 29 at the age of 93.
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Faith played a big role in D’Amico’s life, and her family credits her religious conviction as part of the reason she lived as long as she did.
“She was a very religious person, and she believed in her God and that gave her the strength,” said her granddaughter Toni Tapia.
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D’Amico was a Baptist and for 54 years was a well-known member of the Westview Bible Church in Imperial Beach.
Every Tuesday she held a Bible study at a friend’s house in Imperial Beach.
D’Amico was born on Dec. 27, 1917, in Philadelphia, PA, but was raised in Horsham. In 1957, she left her hometown with her husband, Antonio, and their two daughters to settle in San Diego, which was where Antonio was stationed while he was serving in the U.S. Navy.
D’Amico first met her husband of 48 years at a roller skating rink in Horsham. She married him in her late 20s, which was considered to be a later age to get married during the 1940s, Tapia said.
D’Amico would often tell the story about when she did not know her husband. He was six years younger than she, and according to Tapia, she would jokingly say if she knew at the time that he was younger than she was, she wouldn't have married him.
After the death of her husband in 1993, D’Amico moved in with her granddaughter Toni Tapia on 11th street in Imperial Beach, a city similar to the Pennsylvania community where she was raised.
“Imperial Beach meant a lot to her because it was a lot like Horsham in many ways—a small city, very nice and very quiet,” her grandson Jason Tapia said.
Toni said D’Amico was always charitable.
“She tried to help people when she could,” she said, noting that D'Amico gave contributions to missionaries, the Arthritis Foundation, many Christian groups and paralyzed veterans. At one time she was also a member of the Red Hats Society.
D’Amico is survived by her daughter, Donna Tapia, 10 grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren.
