designer and native Staten Islander, died Saturday at N.Y.
Presbyterian Cornell-Weill Medical Center, Manhattan,
after a long and courageous battle.
Ms. Mazzitelli, whose maternal and paternal
grandparents settled in the borough nearly 100 years
ago, was born in New Brighton and raised in West
Brighton, the first-born daughter of Evelyn and Louis.
After graduating from St. Joseph Hill Academy in
Arrochar, she received a Bachelor of Architecture and
Master of Urban Planning at City College. She was
employed as a planner by the Department of City
Planning, charged with negotiating construction projects
in lower Manhattan. Her role in the complicated design
and approval process involved meetings and hearings
with entities that were often combative: community
boards, civic associations, residents, municipal agencies,
neighborhood businesses and religious interests,
architects, planners, contractors, banks, and developers.
In 1986, she joined Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill,
long considered one the of the country’s premier
architectural firms. She was with SOM for nearly 20
years, having attained the position of Associate Director
and Senior Urban Designer.
Her kidneys failed in 1995 and afterwards, she
survived on dialysis, administered three or four times
weekly, for 23 years.
Even after she had stopped reporting to her office,
colleagues sought her input. A cousin recalled visiting her
in 2005 during one of many hospitalizations to find her
poring over plans for a new World Trade Center.
Blueprints and drawings were spread out over her
hospital bed.
A committed Manhattanite, she lived in Hell’s
Kitchen long before it re-gentrified. She bought an
apartment on the Upper West Side 25 years ago.
Few of the advantages of city living eluded her. She
caught 20 plays every season and had a New York City
Ballet subscription for many years (orchestra, slightly left
of center).
She liked restaurants and shopping. About her fierce
affection for jewelry, she conceded: “I am a woman who
is addicted to jewelry.”
It may have helped her mitigate challenges that
would have been fatally disheartening otherwise. For a
hospital stay, she might have a serious 18K Florentine
bangle on one wrist and a cheery, less expensive charm
bracelet on the other.
In the early 1990s, a close friend ill with HIV/AIDS
was virtually abandoned by his family. She took care of
him until he died.
She was a resolute Roman Catholic. When she
couldn’t make her way to Mass at Holy Trinity Church,
the late Monsignor Thomas Leonard faithfully brought
Communion to her at home.
As a young woman, she travelled as often as her
work allowed, almost always to places of architectural
significance. Even after her health constrained her, she
managed to get out of town as long as dialysis was
available nearby.
Just last month, for an obituary of longtime
iconoclast architect/builder Charlie Azzue, she recalled
knocking on the door of his aggressively modern house –
the family home at the time -- on Todt Hill. As a 20-yearold
architecture undergrad, she was irresistibly curious
about his mindset. He recognized her enthusiasm and
invited her in. It was an important face-to-face.
“I learned two lessons that day,” she said: “One
about architecture and one about the importance of
sharing one’s knowledge and educating the next
generation coming up.”
Ms. Mazzitelli was predeceased by her beloved
father, Louis, who died suddenly in 1987. She is survived
by her beloved mother and friend, Evelyn Fressola
Mazzitelli, her loving and devoted sister, Eva Lynn M.
Hayko, her brother-in-law, John, a niece Emily Rose, and
a nephew, Benjamin Louis, both of whom she adored and
of whom she was so proud, Godparents Louise Sucillon
and Michael Fressola, dear aunts, uncles and cousins,
countless dedicated and loving friends, and her loyal and
cherished Schnauzer companion Ecco-Lo.
Her family wishes to thank the nurses at the dialysis
unit at NYPH and her nephrology team of doctors,
physicians assistants, and social workers.
Special love and thanks to our dear Quindrella Woods
who became Lois’ caretaker and protector, and a
member of our family.
Calling hours will be at Casey Funeral Home at 350
Slosson Ave., Staten Island from 4 to 8 PM on Tuesday
December 4. A Mass of the Resurrection will be held
Wednesday December 5 at St.Charles Church, 200 Penn
Ave., Staten Island.
A memorial service in Manhattan will follow in the
coming months.
Donations may be made to St.Jude’s Children’s
Hospital, an animal rescue organization of your choice,
or the Dialysis Center at NYPH.
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