Angelina Donze Cardarella

Angelina “Angie” Donze Cardarella passed away peacefully on Feb. 18 at her Mandeville home, 10 days shy of her 91st birthday. Born in New Orleans on Leap Day 1932 to Salvatore Cannizzaro and Mary Guttuso Cannizzaro, Angie was known for her passionate devotion to her family and friends, optimistic outlook, down-to-earth manner, and love for gathering loved ones and strangers alike around tables filled with the home-cooked food and lively conversation of her proud Sicilian roots. Angie, who enjoyed sewing, shopping, hosting, and talking local politics, had an incredible gift for telling detailed stories – a trait that remained with her through the time of her death. Many of those stories revolved around her childhood on Chartres Street in Faubourg Marigny; the carpentry, dancing and mandolin skills of her Palermo-born father; and the tender care provided by the nuns at Cabrini Day Nursery in the French Quarter. Angie and her first husband, the late Giacinto Donze, were married for 39 years, raising their four children on Lesseps Street in Bywater, and later, on Manchester Street in New Orleans East. Angie, who loved life and everyone she came across, truly embraced the motto “the more, the merrier.” She joyfully organized large and regular gatherings of extended family at Broadwater Beach in Biloxi, reunions for her high school alma mater of St. Joseph’s Academy, and Saturday-morning meetups at her brother’s hair salon, where nail and hair care were secondary to socializing. In addition to being a wife and mother, Angie spent over 50 years in the insurance industry, beginning in 1962 as a file clerk at Harrison Insurance Agency. She worked for several agencies over the years, not retiring until 2015 as office manager and vice president of Pappalardo Insurance Agency. Professional accolades during her 40+ years as a member of The Insurance Women of Greater New Orleans include being named the organization’s “Woman of the Year” twice – in 1985 and 1990 – and being elected chapter president. After the death of her first husband, Angie felt blessed to have found a second great love. She married her childhood sweetheart, Jack Cardarella, in 2000 and went on to enjoy 23 additional years of married life. Angie’s strong Catholic faith included service to her former parish of St. Maria Goretti in New Orleans and her post-Katrina parish of Our Lady of the Lake in Mandeville. In addition to Giacinto, Angie was preceded in death by her son, Frank Donze; brothers Salvatore, Louis and Frank Cannizzaro; and sisters Mary Rose Bono and Phyllis Holt. She is survived by her husband Jack; sons Dino (Kathleen) and David (Hollie) Donze; daughter Lisa Donze Jacob (Tommy); daughter-in-law Elizabeth Donze; 10 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and a host of beloved nieces, nephews, friends and “adopted” children. The family wishes to thank Trevor Colbert and Gina Lubrano for their loving assistance in Angie’s care during her final months. Friends and family are invited to celebrate Angie’s life at a Mass of Christian Burial on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. in the chapel of Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd., New Orleans. Burial will follow in the cemetery mausoleum. Visitation will precede the Mass from noon-2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, Angie requested that donations be made to the Frank Donze Memorial Fund, established in 2018 to assist promising LSU journalism students. Checks can be made to The LSU Foundation (notation line “Frank Donze Memorial Fund”) and mailed to LSU Foundation, 3796 Nicholson Drive, Baton Rouge LA 70802 or https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1585/cart21/form.aspx?sid=1585&gid=1&pgid=439&cid=1080&bledit=1&dids=5359