Carla Menza

Born Dolores Estelle Williams to Austrian/Serbian immigrants in Youngstown, Ohio, she graduated the valedictorian of her high school class of 1945. She abandoned her father’s plan to be a secretary at Youngstown Steel and hightailed it to New York City. There, she signed with the Conover Modeling Agency as Carla Wickett, and posed for the likes of Christian Dior, Diana Vreeland, Harper’s Bazaar, and innumerable live fashion shows.

In her 20s, she lived on Lexington Avenue and 27th Street. Turning heads wherever she went, the owner of the coffee shop below would seat Carla and her roommate next to the window to lure in customers with their young beauty. In exchange, they got free breakfast, a single boiled egg and a cup of coffee; far more nutritious than the usual cigarette and orange Nehi.

After a friendship forged in Belmar, New Jersey, she accepted a proposal from the most charming and funny man in any room, Joseph “Big Joe” Menza. They were married in 1952, and welcomed three beloved children: Mark, Joseph, and Gina. Here, she helped create the community of Walnut Street, which include the core families whose friendships still last today.

Carla presided over their home for the next 66 years, rising at dawn to make sandwiches for the hunters, inviting the bands and their groupies to practice in the cellar, throwing New Years Eve parties, leading Gina’s brownie troops, and hosting most holidays. Always encouraging her children to sing, whether in Newark Academy's glee club, Saint Phil's choir, or Backbone, she often joined in herself, if ever an Eagles song came on the radio.

She was an anchor not just for her family but for the legions of neighbors, cousins and nieces and nephews to whom she offered immeasurable comfort and bottomless espressos. Her living room was an uproarious salon for entertaining and soothing refuge of conversation alike. A fiercely independent and outspoken original, she also suffered no fools. She loved the Yankees, knitting, reading, old movies, the New York Times crossword puzzles, and taking in the view from her serene backyard.

After 50 years, she reconnected serendipitously with a fashion illustrator from her early days, and she and Big Joe began making annual trips to Sestri Levante on the Ligurian Coast to see her. It became a beloved tradition, one they shared with the whole family again and again.

An adoring and attentive “Grammy” to Kaitlin, Connor, Robby, Gordon, Michael, Jesse, and Casey, she attended their recitals, stayed atop every crush, and implored them to follow their dreams. At 95, she was able to bounce her first great-grandchild, Logan, on her knee. She remained sharp, curious, and fully herself until the very end.

She will be missed and missed and missed, by the constellation of people who loved her and whom she loved, every day, forever and always.

Carla was predeceased by her husband Joe, her son Mark, her siblings Peggy and Larry, and far too many friends. She is survived by her son Joseph and his wife Jill, her daughter Gina and her husband Lee, and her adoring grandchildren and great-grandchild.