Rosemary Vives

Rosemary Vives, age 93, died peacefully on April 19th at Waveny Life Care in New Canaan, Connecticut, leaving behind a rich legacy of love and laughter.

Rosemary was born on December 6th, 1932 in Manhattan to Sicilian-American parents Catherine and Frank LoProto and grew up with her older brother Salvatore in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn. Rosemary loved Frank Sinatra, Broadway, and Prosecco, but her greatest passion was her six children, the grandchildren who followed and a loyal group of girlfriends that met regularly since their days together at elementary school.

Upon graduating Lafayette High School, Rosemary found her wings and flourished in her work for the Rolex Watch Company on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. As part of her job, she would test Rolex watches and proudly wore them home on the subway each night back to Brooklyn.

In 1952 she married Joseph Cortale and moved to Long Island where she raised six children. It was not long before Rosemary returned to the workforce and made her mark in advertising at the Glen Cove Record Pilot and ultimately in international sales for the magazine Area Development.

The New York theatre scene was one of Rosemary's great loves and she became a Broadway regular through the Ladies' Auxiliary of the American Cancer Society.

Widowed in 1985, Rosemary who loved ballroom dancing, attended a singles dance and met the second love of her life, Frank Vives. Marriage and eventually a move to the Florida sunshine began a new chapter in 2001. Thirty years later, Rosemary returned to her roots in the Northeast, surrounded by family for every holiday and birthday.

Rosemary is survived by her children, Karen Belmont (husband Albert), Robert Cortale (wife Maria), Joseph Cortale (wife Laura), Frank Cortale (wife Ivanni), Michael Cortale, (wife Melissa) Mark Cortale, and eleven grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life mass has been planned for Saturday, May 16th at 11am at Saint Michael The Archangel Church in Greenwich, CT.