Christian Rossetti

Christian Rossetti: 'Just an old-fashioned family man'By REGINA SCHAFFER Staff Writer, 609-272-7211
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An occasional series about southern New Jersey residents who recently died, leaving lasting marks on their community, their neighborhood, their friends or families.EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP - Christian Rossetti had a method to his bets.At Atlantic City Race Course, he always played an exacta - betting which two horses are going to come in first and second place.He would always pair the sure win with the long shot.It hardly ever worked.When people asked how he did for the day, he would say he "broke even."That usually meant he lost.

Advertisement> But for Christian, it wasn't really about gambling.It was about the thrill of the race.Christian, better known to his family as "Pop," liked to keep things simple.Happiness was good music, good family and the occasional good horse race.He ate his favorite foods on a schedule.Pasta on Sundays and Thursdays.Seafood on Fridays only.Christian could sing, dance and play the mandolin.He had a booming voice that could have made for great radio.He was a natural performer who liked to record himself and get the kids and grandkids in on the act.Christian was generous.He was stubborn.He loved to joke.He always wore a shirt and tie, even to the grocery store."He's not really a fancy guy," said his son Christian, who is nicknamed Goosh."He's just an old-fashioned family man."***Christian was born in Philadelphia in 1914.He moved to Atlantic City when he was a child, growing up in the resort during the "depression days," as he called them.He graduated from Atlantic City High School and was a familiar figure in the 2900 block of Fairmount Avenue.He was a life insurance salesman with Washington National, and went door to door collecting payments.On the side, he did taxes.Christian met his wife, Antoinette, when he was 35 and she was 18.He spotted her sitting in a luncheonette on Atlantic Avenue, and swatted a fly off her back - or so the story goes.The rest was history.He called her, "My beauty."When his children were grown, Christian got a job at the race course, as a ticket teller.For eight years, he worked in the place he loved.When Antoinette - known as Toni - died nine years ago, Christian moved in with his daughter, Linda Jordan, in Egg Harbor Township.
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In November, Christian had some trouble breathing, and the trouble got worse.A diagnosis confirmed it was lung cancer.Christian refused to believe it.He quit smoking at age 65, after all."I quit when I was a young man!"he said at the time.Christian decided that what he really had was COPD - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - and that's what he told people, even his Heartland Hospice nurse, Cathy."He has lung cancer, right?"
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Christian refused to quit driving.He loved his Buick Century.He wasn't listening to his family.Cathy sat Christian - then 93 - down and explained to him that he probably should not be driving anymore.Christian listened intently, and agreed.Then he grabbed his keys and drove to the CVS Pharmacy.Goosh decided the Buick was "suddenly" going to have some trouble starting.He took out the battery.Christian asked why his car wouldn't start.Goosh said he'd look into it.Christian called AAA.Goosh had to run outside to intercept the mechanic and explain the situation.A lack of oxygen also caused Christian to hallucinate.He saw rain in the dining room.Then a floating head in a china cabinet.Then a cave woman in a tree outside.He described the visions in detail to his family, fascinated."Boy, the mind really is amazing, isn't it?"he would say."It didn't scare him," Goosh said."Nothing ever scared him."***As the weeks passed, Christian grew weaker and ate less.
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The next morning, July 1, Kelly overheard Christian talking in his bedroom.It was just after 6 a.m.Her infant son, Cole, had just woken up.Kelly, curious, peeked in the room.Christian was laying on his side, facing the wall, talking and gesturing to nothing."Are you a doctor?"Christian said."All right, I'll be right there.""We've all speculated on who he was talking to," Goosh said."Those were his last words."By all accounts, Christian lived a long, happy life.But he missed his wife.He joked that all his tax customers were dying off.Many of his friends from the old days were gone.