Maria Bruzzese

Born Maria Mazzone in Calabria, Italy, she immigrated to the United States in 1959, moving to Brooklyn. She settled in Dongan Hills in 1970.

A homemaker, Mrs. Bruzzese also worked for 14 years as a teacher’s assistant at Children’s Harbor Pre-School at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Livingston. She retired in 2004.

She most loved spending time with her family. She also enjoyed cooking and baking.

On their 25th wedding anniversary, she and her husband, Joseph, journeyed to Hawaii aboard the SS Constitution, the same ship she traveled on when she came to the U.S.

Mrs. Bruzzese was a parishioner of St. Ann’s R.C. Church, Dongan Hills.

Surviving, along with Joseph, her husband of 47 years, are her son, Salvatore; her daughters, Roseann Rosario and Laura Liberto; her mother, Rosa Mazzone; a brother, Carmine Mazzone; a sister, Angela Lombardo, and four grandchildren.

The funeral mass will be Saturday at 9:30 a.m. in St. Ann's R.C. Church, Dongan Hills. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp. Arrangements are being handled by the Virginia Funeral Chapel, Dongan Hills.

Arrangements under the direction of Virginia Funeral Chapel, Staten Island, NY.