Ava Marie Detore

Ava Marie Detore age 23, of Verona, NJ, passed away on Saturday December 14, 2013. The family will receive their friends at the Quinn-Hopping Funeral Home 145 E. Mt. Pleasant Avenue Livingston, NJ, on Thursday December 19, 2013 from 2-9 PM with a Blessing Service at 8PM. Anyone who wishes to share a remembrance and or comment for Ava, may do so during the visitation or during the service. A private cremation service will be held Friday morning. Ava was a graduate of Montclair Kimberly Academy and Newark Academy. She attended George Washington University and completing her degree at Fordham University in Manhattan where she was an intern for the Sony Corporation and was preparing to pursue a Masters in Psychology. "I want to help teenage girls" Ava recently said. I want to teach them to empower themselves. Girls need to learn the skills that will help them work as a cohesive group. They need to be more respectful of one another. I want to help kids stop binge drinking in high school. Their brains are developing and it is detrimental". She wanted to use music as a way to reach kids. Ava was an active supporter of Operation Smile and was a dog rescuer. She had two dogs named Lyric I and Lyric II. Ava was a prolific artist and a girl who adored her brother and sister and all her friends. She loved to shop and wanted to have her own jewelry and handbag line one day. Her mother stated "We have been honored and privileged to be her parents. Her smile could light up the Empire State Building. Her heart was golden, I was recently walking down 10th Avenue in Manhattan with her, a homeless man came up to her smiling and said "what do you have for me today? Ava?" Beloved daughter of Robert and Debra Starita Detore, loving sister of Andrew Joseph and Tessia Mary Detore, dear granddaughter of Gloria and the late Joseph R. Starita and the late Mary and John Detore, Ava is also survived by many loving aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory either to Operation Smile 3641 Faculty Blvd. Virginia Beach, VA 23453, Feed the Children 1111 Corporate Rd North Brunswick, NJ 07902 or the Fine Arts Department c/o of Newark Academy 91 South Orange Avenue Livingston, NJ 07039.