One of Bruce Springsteen's much-adored aunts has died at the age of 92.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
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Dora Kirby of Freehold, N.J., was honored at Ellis Island in April 2010 along with the rocker's mother and a third sister.

Springsteen brought the three beaming women onstage as he received an Ellis Island Family Heritage Award.

He said the Italian-American Zerilli sisters personified the "tough optimism and the work ethic of first-generation-born American citizens." He said they lifted his spirit and "put the rock and roll" in him.

The Asbury Park Press says Kirby graduated from Rutgers University in 1983 and got her real-estate license in 1989. Springsteen proudly noted at Ellis Island that Kirby was still available for tax work.

The Freeman Funeral Home says she died Wednesday. Her funeral will be Saturday at St. Rose of Lima Church in Freehold.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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