Lena Ruggiero Pantano, beloved mother, sister and grandmother, died of natural causes, Thurs., March 21, 2003 in Ellicott City, MD. She died on her 84th birthday. She was born in Paterson, NJ, a daughter of the late Michele & Carmela Loffredo Ruggiero. She married Louis Pantano in 1946 and resided in Bridgeport, CT where they raised their sons. They moved to Hamden in 1977. In Bridgeport she was a founder of the East End Little League, a den mother for Cub Scout Pack 231 and was active on PTA Boards. She remained active as a volunteer in the Hamden community, a participant in quilting and needlework groups and a member of the Ascension Catholic Church. Among her activities and good works, she was a member of Ascension Church's Legion of Mary, the church's bereavement group, a volunteer at St. Ann's ''Young at Heart'', a volunteer at Sacred Heart Academy's Clelian Center, a volunteer at Arden House, a member of Hamden Seniors and the Sikorsky Retirees Club. She is survived by sisters, Carmella Giaquinto and Eleanor Casbarro of Totowa, NJ, sons, Michael Louis Pantano of Ellicott City, MD and George Allan Pantano of San Diego, CA and five grandchildren, Christopher, Nicholas, Evan, Tessa and Julian Pantano. She was predeceased by a brother Angelo A. Ruggiero. Funeral from BEECHER & BENNETT, 2300 Whitney Ave., Hamden, Wed., March 26 at 9:30 a.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 10 a.m. at Ascension Church. Entombment will be in St. Michael Mausoleum in Stratford. Friends may call at the funeral home Wed. from 8 - 9:15 a.m.