Born July 7, 1934 in Sieksāte, Latvia, she was the daughter of Krisis and Anna Langa. As a child her father sent her, her mother Anna, younger sister Lucy, younger brother George, and her grandmother Anna to Germany to flee the Russian invasion of Latvia. Velta's father Krisis was not able to accompany them. Upon arriving in Thuringia, Germany they were sent to a workers camp, then homeless before residents of a small town took them in. When the war was over they were asked if they wanted to go to the West or the East and that answer brought them to a US run displaced person camp until a Lutheran church in Meriden, Connecticut sponsored their trip to America.
Velta came to America in 1951. There she finished school and worked to help support her family. It was in Connecticut that she met her husband Gheorghe, whom she married in 1969. Gheorghe and Velta lived in Queens, New York, before moving to Smithtown, where they raised their family and remained until Gheorghe's death in 2010. In 2018, Velta moved to Manhattan to be closer to her beloved Grandchildren.
Velta is survived by her two daughters; Maria Ciunga and partner Brian Gorry, NJ, and Michele Ciunga and husband Olin Utterback, NY; and three grandchildren, Olivia (13), Gheorghe (10), and Lily (6).
Velta was an avid reader, crossword puzzle solver and Dancing With the Stars enthusiast. She loved flowers and spoiling her grandchildren and grand-dogs. Velta's sharp wit, dry sense of humor, warm heart and generous spirit will be deeply missed.
Memorial services will be conducted at 10:30 AM Sunday, May 16, 2021 at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home in NYC. A private graveside service will be conducted at a future time in Smithtown, New York. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to UNICEF.
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