Maurena S Luzzi

She was born in Brooklyn, NY on July 12, 1939, to Sabino and Margaret Penza. She was the fifth of six children born into a talented, boisterous, fun loving and loving family. Raised in the Bronx, she moved into Manhattan as a young adult to study voice performance at the New York College of Music, where she met her husband, Vincent.

Her early adult years were spent singing throughout New York City at various clubs, concerts and even on the radio. Several of her performances were committed to record, as her talent was great. She studied with and was friends with many talented musicians and singers in New York and was herself quite accomplished. Among her favorite arias to perform were Mi Chiamano Mimi and Vissi d’arte. A role she always spoke fondly of was Santuzza from Cavalleria Rusticana. But she was never a person to limit herself, as she could just as easily perform Schubert’s Ave Maria or Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man of Mine.

She and Vincent met and fell in love over music, and it was omnipresent in their lives; music was their world. But the one thing each loved more than music was the other. They married in 1961 and went on to have four children.

After marrying they moved to New Jersey and eventually settled in North Bergen, where they raised their family. For the past forty years she led the North Bergen Players, a local community theater program run by the Township of North Bergen. She wrote most of the plays they performed, she taught acting, singing and play writing. She mentored and encouraged hundreds of students over the years who were interested in performance art. Her intention was always to help others succeed and to pay forward all the opportunities, excellence in training and instruction and promote the arts she felt blessed by in her own early life.

Maurena is predeceased by her husband Vincent and son Dario. She is survived by her daughter Gina and her four children Brian, Kevin, Angela and Alex; by her daughter Heather and her husband Bill and their daughter Anna and grandson Vincent and by her youngest child Maureen and her sons Gennaro and Giuseppe; and by her elder sister and dearest friend Dae Vitale and many beloved cousins, nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be on Saturday, June 10th 3-7pm and Sunday, June 11th 4-8pm. Her Requiem Mass will be on Monday, June 12th at 10:30am at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in West New York. Burial will be at Somerset Hills Memorial Park in Basking Ridge, NJ where she will take her rest beside her husband and near to their beloved son.

For those desiring, please consider donations to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, EWTN or other such organizations that will aid children, expectant mothers and her beloved Catholic Faith.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.leber-fh.com for the Luzzi family.