Lucille McCabe

Rosa Lucille Mazza was born December 13, 1927 in Richmond Hill, New York, beloved and only daughter of Anna Bisontis Mazza and Francesco Thomaso Mazza, a standout middle child between her two always adoring brothers, Joseph and Frank. As per Italian tradition, she was given the first name of her paternal grandmother, Rosa Mancuso, but her mother wanted her named Lucille and that is how she was known her whole life.

As the only girl, her brothers are convinced she was spoiled and pampered growing up, but Lucille always denied this. Her childhood was filled with visits to relatives in Nyack, New Jersey and Queens, learning the best Calabrian dishes from the masters. She graduated from Richmond Hill High School and had a long working career with Metropolitan Life insurance company, commuting each day from Queens to Manhattan. Quite prophetically, the company logo was Snoopy and Snoopy and Charlie Brown played a role in her lifelong role as Aunt, Great Aunt, Great-Great Aunt and godmother.

Lucille's home was always Queens, she brought her mother Anna to live with her in her apartment just a walk from the subway. Her nieces and nephews, Janet, Joseph, Jennifer, John, Dianne, Jacqueline, Thomas, and Carolyn, each have scores of wonderful memories of trips, parties in her crowded apartment, and field trips with Aunt "Lu"--ice skating, riding bikes early in the morning in Atlantic City, buying taffy, ice cream. She took annual car rides with her mom to Florida. Aunt Lu introduced many of the growing family of nieces and nephews-in-law, Paul, Rose Maria, Frank, Janice, Bryan, and Sheri to the mysteries of Calabrian sopressata and gipi-jatta (do not ask what it is made of!). She married twice, Sam and Fran. She was the glue that held the ever growing Italian side of the family together – the Valenzisi's, the Chiarellas, Calaos, the John Mazza's. She had a special relationship with all her family, and her family meant everything to her. She was as close to all her grandnieces and nephews as any grandmother could be: Peter, David, Melissa, Tara, Samantha, Genevieve, Elizabeth, Michael, Daniel, Thomas, Connor, Anna, Julia, and Christina, and now – the "great, greats" Alora, Matthew and DiAngelo. She became winter vacation companion to Peter ("the brotherhood of the coqui's in Puerto Rico), afternoon grandmother to Melissa, Tara, Samantha and then Anna and Christina, from ballet lessons to sneaking trips to McDonalds. She cared for Daniel as an infant a whole week by herself and they have been connected ever since. She has kept close to all the McCabes and their children, with her big heart getting even bigger to welcome in Delia McCabe's one-year old twins. Aunt Lu always brought the "treats," to the kids, when Dianne once asked to bring fruit instead she made clear that she only brings treats! Her boat trip around New York for her 80th birthday was so much fun that Christina convinced her to do it again for her 85th!

The most unforgettable feature to all who knew her was that laugh – that loud, infectious, fill a room, turns heads kind-of- laugh. It could make Joe and Frank lose it uncontrollably; it started and ended almost all her stories. Oh we will miss those stories, only Lucille remembered them all, all the details of people and places, the unexpected joys, small and large that life brings and that she brought to all who have been honored to say, no matter what generation or exactly the family connection, is she is my Aunt Lu, my sister, my friend.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Lucille's memory to The Association for the Neurologically Impaired and Brain Injured Child (ANIBIC) 61-35 220th St. Bayside, NY 11364 or online at ANIBIC.org. Please indicate Iris Hill in the memo section.