Sadie Morena

Sadie (Sally) Morena, (92), residing at Waltonwood Senior Living, Cary, NC, passed away peacefully after a long illness on Sept 21, 2015, surrounded by her loving family, leaving behind many who loved her. She will be remembered always for her friendly, warm and caring heart and as a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and sister.

Born on Sept 30, 1922 in Brooklyn, NY to the late Cono and Antoinette DiGruccio, Sally is predeceased by her beloved husband of 56 years, Nicholas; her parents, 5 sisters and 4 brothers.

Left behind to cherish her memory are her loving daughter and son-in-law, Margaret (Marge) Morena and Richard Lewis, Sr, of Cary, NC; son and daughter-in-law, Joseph and Diane Morena of Lincroft, NJ; and adored granddaughters Stacy (John Kouvel); Jodi (Michael Murphy). She is also survived by her sister Nancy DiGruccio and brother-in-law James Desio, and many nieces and nephews.

Sally spoke fondly to everyone she met about her family and growing up in Brooklyn, NY. In 1939, she graduated from The Brooklyn Leading Designing Academy, directed by Prof. F. Barone and became a dress designer and seamstress, working at Bergdorf Goodman in NYC, attending to movie stars and other socialites.

On Feb 1, 1947 she married Nick and moved to Maspeth, NY where she was a devoted wife and homemaker and lovingly raised her two children and then welcomed her two cherished granddaughters into her family. Sally & Nick eventually moved to Toms River, NJ to be closer to their son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughters and then after lovingly caring for Nick during his lengthy illness until his passing in 2003, she moved to Cary, NC to be cared for by her daughter and son-in-law.

The family would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to the staff and community of Waltonwood Cary Parkway for the love, care and friendship they have shown Sally for the last (5) years. We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to the many compassionate caregivers from Homewatch CareGivers of Chapel Hill, NC for their love, care and support, and Transitions LifeCare, Raleigh, NC for helping Mom on her final journey.

The family will receive visitors at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 200 SE Maynard Rd, Cary, NC on Friday, Sept 25, 2015, from 2-4pm and 6-8pm. She will be laid to rest beside her husband at St John’s Cemetery in Queens, NY on Monday, Sept 28.

A Mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made in Sally’s name to her favorite charity, The American Cancer Society, or the Employees Fund at Waltonwood Cary Parkway, 750 SE Cary Parkway, Cary, NC 27511, Attn: Tina Forsythe, or Transitions LifeCare, 5930 Trinity Road, Raleigh, NC 27607.