Nora Ann Santiago

Nora was born on April 29th, 1966 in Jersey City, New Jersey, the daughter of Frank Zapata and Diane DiVizio. Diane, her mother, shared many wonderful memories and moments throughout Nora’s entire life. Nora and her mother were very close and had an amazing relationship that developed into a one of a kind mother-daughter bond that no one could duplicate.

Nora grew up in Jersey City along with her brother Frankie and sister Debbie. She spent most of her time with her best friend Karen Casey, who were the first girls to try out for the boy’s baseball team and made it. They enjoyed playing basketball everyday across the street from their Jersey City homes, and they were skateboarding girls when girls who skateboarded were frowned upon. Karen describes Nora as being a “Sweet Rebel” and it showed.

Nora graduated from middle school (PS#23 in Jersey City, New Jersey) in 1980 and moved to Hollywood, Florida her freshman year of high school where she graduated from McArthur High school in 1984.

Nora has two children Kyna, 31, and Robert, 25. Kyna carries on not only her kindness and hard work but as well as Nora’s spark that would light the room wherever she showed up at; Robert who is definitely a hard worker as well, carries Nora’s sense of calm and peacefulness that projects on everyone he meets. Nora taught her two kids how to love and rely on each other every day and they continue to practice that today.

Since Nora was young, she has always been a dedicated, productive, and devoted hard worker. Nora was raising a little girl and boy on her own and made sure they were both provided for, no matter how many hours she spent on the clock. She has always had a knack for style which helped her get her foot into the retail world. She has achieved awards such as “Manager of the Year” as well as being granted many certificates for her years of commitment to each job she gained. Nora began working for Steve Madden in 2014 and was loved by not only her associates but her directors as well and was employed there until the day she passed.

Nora had a wonderful husband who not only “made her smile everyday just by being him” but gave her hope in love again. Joe is a wonderful husband who showed nothing but his love to Nora and her happiness was extremely apparent because of him. They were together for 12 years and got hitched on a beautiful rooftop in Los Angeles, CA on September 20th, 2014 as Nora described as “one of the happiest days of her life”. He became an astonishing vital part of Nora’s life as well as her children. Kyna and Robert have nothing but pleasant things to say about their stepdad Joe and will continue to have a relationship with him for as long as they live.

Nora had an infectious personality that made it hard for anyone to forget her. Her body may have passed, but her spirit lives on through not only her husband and her children but through every person she encountered. It is an understatement to say that Nora will be missed but she will never be forgotten.

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