- Date Of Death: March 30, 2015
- State: New Jersey
Loretta L. Matarese (Nee: Iasilli) of Columbus passed away at Samaritan Inpatient Hospice Center in Mt. Holly on Monday at the age of 84. She was born of Italian immigrants in New York City and grew up in Sloatsburg, NY. She was a graduate of Suffern High School and Traphagan School of Design. She worked in fashion design in New York at Elizabeth Arden and Henri Bendel. She went on to become a beloved teacher of home economics at Notre Dame High School and Kearny High School. She taught her students sewing, cooking, etiquette, nutrition and conducted fashion shows with her students.
She designed and made numerous wedding gowns for herself, her nieces, and her daughters. After getting married, she became a homemaker and enjoyed entertaining her friends and family with her gourmet cooking that she and her late husband Jim enjoyed doing together. She went on to substitute teach at local area high schools for over 15 years. She was a member of the Society Belle Italia and shared her delicious Italian cooking traditions with all. She was a faithful and devoted Catholic and an example of a loving Christian.
She sang at the choir at St. Mary’s RC Church in Bordentown for over 20 years and continued to sing at her current church of Sacred Heart RC Church in Mt. Holly. Loretta was a sweet, loving woman, who was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, sister-in- law, aunt, teacher, and friend. Wife of 47 years to the late James Dominic, she is survived by her daughters Claudia (Bill) Metcalf, Christine, four grandchildren, and her sisters-in-law Anna Marie and Rena.
