EULOGY
MARIE ZELLO-MANAGO
(September 2, 1929 - January 14, 2011)
Delivered by Joseph N. Manago, son, on January 17, 2011, Church of St. Aiden, Williston Park, New York.
MARIE ZERO-MANAGO. She was born Marie Zero in 1929, but her father, Anthony, in the coal business with her Uncle Jack, had changed the name to Zello, because business rivals would call her Dad and his brother the “zero brothers,� who would amount to nothing! Mom was also part Lithuanian, since her Mom, Susan “Grandma Peggy� Mactutis’ parents were born in Russian Lithuania at the time of the Czars. In any event, her cooking was thoroughly Italian, although for some time after her marriage to my Dad, he was eating raw meatballs (imagine!) until Dad’s Mom taught her how to cook!
Well, she became a mother for the first time when she gave birth to me, Joey Jr., a mother again with our brother, Jimmy, and then a mother again with my sister, Maria, who was our Mom’s caregiver for the last 40 years. Even as a one-year-old child, Maria placed hot packs on Mom’s neck and back for spinal disc disease. Those were the days of the beautiful melodies of Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and Johnny Mathis, Mom’s favorites. Nat “King� Cole crooned on the radio as Mom and Dad decided to fill the baskets full of sandwiches and “ Roll out Those Lazy - Hazy - Crazy Days of Summer" (1), and head toward Coney Island or Brighton Beach. Girls in bikinis? You should have seen Mom in her heyday! She had long wavy brunette hair, gorgeous full lips, and beautiful legs. She was a lady of fashion and her wardrobe was one of a Hollywood actress; in fact, she was a cross between Betty Davis and Judy Garland.
Mom loved the aspects of a homemaker. Her home was always immaculate. Her Italian cuisine with a menu ranging from veal parmigiana, to lasagna, to beef soups, to roasted turkey with chestnuts, to roasted peppers and potatoes, to salads and puddings was most delectable. Mom also loved to decorate our home around the time of every holiday. Her window of our home in Richmond Hill looked like a decorated window of Macy’s with lights, bisque dolls (she was known as “the doll lady�), puppets. Christmas, New Year's, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving., and Mom had the holiday spirit: "Frosted window panes, candles gleaming inside, painted candy canes on the tree; Santa's on his way, he’s filled his sleigh with things, things for you and for me" (2). Yes, Mom donned a Santa Claus costume and distributed gifts to the extended Manago Family. There were colored Easter eggs hidden all over the home for the Easter egg hunt! And there were Halloween parties with all kinds of games and contests for the whole family! Mom was the happy - go - lucky comedienne in the style of Lucille Ball; she loved "I Love Lucy.�
Mom was the one who patiently studied with me in my early elementary school days at St. Patrick’s School, Kent Avenue, Brooklyn. Mom inspired me with the thought that there is a Divine purpose to my individual life; she intuitively knew this, and impressed it upon me many times: "God made you for a reason.� She was my second “Baltimore Catechism�; she had to be since she grew up, along with her three late sisters, in the St. Joseph's Convent (Willoughby Avenue, Brooklyn) as an orphan for a number of years during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. It was then that she learned the value of hard work. There are two sides of being a Catholic, the “inside’ Catholic attends Mass regularly “inside� the church building, while the “outside� Catholic practices the virtues of faith, hope, and love “outside’ the church building. As an “outside� Catholic, Mom was a perfect Christian. She was never rich in things, other than her collection of antiques, which she cherished. She was rich in kindness and generosity.
Mom worked in various types of jobs, from a job making surgical sutures at Davis & Geck to various positions in the ice cream and bakery industries: Good Humour, Louis Sherry, A & P - Jane Parker. She packaged those chocolate eclairs forever loved by children all over the streets, but at Davis & Geck she made the catgut sutures so instrumental in medicine for use by the best surgeons in the world.
In times of her children's and her late husband’s illnesses, Mom was always a diligent loving nurse, from monitoring vaporizers to administering medications. In later years, she would work for Health Insurance Plan of America (H.I.P.) – Jamaica Hospital as a Medical Assistant. Mom was always there to nurse those high fevers and stomachaches of her children, but credit must also go to Dr. Spock's work, “Baby and Child Care� (3). For who did Mom have at her side at 2 A.M. in morning when her children had 103 degree fevers? Dr. Benjamin Spock!
Mom loved the Summer vacations with our late Dad, Joseph Sr., at Wildwood, New Jersey (Cousin Karen, you remember Wildwood?}, the Catskills Mountains, New York (Cousin Sal and Anthony, you remember Howes Caverns?), and lately, Las Vegas, San Diego, and Aruba. Imagine? Eighty years old and our Mom flew to Aruba! Her angel, my sister, Maria, took her on these flights and indefatigably nurtured her through all her medical woes and journeys to almost every hospital in the metropolitan New York area. There is a place for people like my sister, Maria. It’s called Heaven.
And one other thought. My Mom, despite her strict Catholic upbringing in the orphanage, was a progressive-minded person, always open to hearing new ideas. In politics, she loved the late President Richard Nixon for his ending of the Vietnam War. When President Nixon was elected in 1968, my Mom called me over to her and said to me, “Tonight, pray to God for Nixon because he promised to end that war in Vietnam and bring our sons home again!� Marie is survived by three children, and her two grandchildren, Louis, a doctoral student and lecturer in Mathematics at the City University of New York, and John, a senior Psychology major at Queens College.
Oh, I forgot to mention her one hobby, sport, pastime, and entertainment: BINGO. When she won, she was elated and would buy things for her home. But, when she lost, she was a sore loser! Then, upon arriving home, she would prepare a tuna salad, instead of a four-course meal. My Dad would look her in the eyes and say, “You were at that bingo parlor again today, Marie!�
These are some of the most memorable things in my life about Marie Zello-Manago, my Mom, who is,
"UNFORGETTABLE, - That's what you are, UNFORGETTABLE,
Tho' near or far. Like a song of love that clings to me, How the
thought of you does things to me, Never before has someone been
more. Unforgettable in every way, And forever more, that's how you'll stay� (4).
REFERENCES
1. "Those Lazy - Hazy - Crazy Days of Summer", Hans Carste & Charles Tobias. 1962.
2. "The Christmas Walltz", Jule Styne & Sammy Cahn. 1954.
3. Benjamin Spock, M.D., "Baby and Child Care". New York: Simon & Schuster, 1976.
4. "Unforgettable", Irving Gordon. 1951
