Aurelia Zidaru

Aurelia Zidaru, age of 61, passed away peacefully in her home in Arnold, Missouri on Monday, February 1, 2019. She was born on December 11, 1957 in Lupeni, Romania. Daughter of Sophica and Ion Gavrilescu. She leaves behind her husband Gheorghe Zidaru and two children, Monica and Silviu Zidaru.

Aurelia was a seamstress and owned her shop in the Richardson Crossing malls called 'Sew for U' in Arnold Missouri. Since childhood, sewing has been her passion. At a young age, her mother sent her off to summer school at to learn how the craft and skill of sewing. She survived Cervical Cancer in 2006, then decided to pursue her passion and soon opened her own sewing shop. She quickly became well known for altering majority of prom and wedding dresses in the area and was the "go-to" seamstress from formal wear. Her patrons not only went to her for alteration needs, but also to visit her and chat. Many would visit her just to say hello; she provided a sense of comfort and friendship to all who had the fortune of meeting her.

Aurelia and Gheorghe immigrated from Romania in 1991 a year after Communism had ended. Before it ended, they were both fired from their jobs because they were found out to no longer believe in the Communist President's politics at that time. With two mouths to feed, they both began sewing custom fashionable shirts at the local market. To their surprise, they sold all of their inventory and had to quickly begin sewing more shirts. During this time they applied for a life-time Visa to the United States which they were fortunately granted. They used their profits from the shirts and other sold items to move their family to America, the Zidaru family were classified as Political Refugees.

Aurelia was also an avid volunteer and a pillar of her church Saint Thomas the Apostle Orthodox Christian Church. She was a great friend, mother and wife. The funeral visiting hours will be held on Tuesday, February 5th at Hoffmeister Colonial Mortuary at 6464 Chippewa St., St. Louis, MO 63109 between 4-8:00pm. The wake service will be held at 7:30pm. The service at the grave will be held the next morning at 11:00am at Saint Matthews Cemetery, 5601 Morganford Rd., St. Louis, MO 63116.

May she Rest in Peace