Mrs Rosina Bonfiglio, née Pizzitola, was born in Bisacquino, Palermo, Sicily, Italy on 17 January 1879. She was the daughter of Saverino Pizzitola and Antonina Sacco. 

Rosina was married to Palermo-based soap and olive oil merchant Pellegrino Bonfiglio (b. 27 December 1869); the couple emigrated to the US in 1896, settling in Manhattan where their first two children were born, John and Yolanda. By 1910 the family lived at West 83rd Street, Manhattan and from where Pellegrino was jobbing as a house painter to make ends meet.

In April 1912 Rosina, accompanied by her two children, boarded the Carpathia as second cabin passengers and were headed to a vacation in Italy. Whilst aboard they witnessed the rescue of the survivors of the Titanic disaster.

In later years Rosina and her family returned to Palermo and spent the next few years there, eventually returning to the USA in 1921; during their time in Italy the family had welcomed another child, their son Severino, known as Sam (b. 1918).

By the 1930s Rosina and her family were living in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles where her eldest son John was a prominent physician; she spent the rest of her life there. 

Rosina Bonfiglio died in Los Angeles on 19 December 1943 and she was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park with other members of her family. Her widower Pellegrino died on 12 September the following year.