Theresa Catalano

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Theresa Catalano, 92, of Tottenville, the loving matriarch of three generations, died Monday in Staten Island University Hospital, in Ocean Breeze.

She was born Theresa Inga in Newark. She moved to Seaside, N.J., in 1990, and settled in Tottenville in 1995.

Mrs. Catalano retired from the Woodbridge Township School District in New Jersey, where she had worked as director of the food service department for 21 years.

She was a practical joker and loved to tell stories, family said.

Mrs. Catalano enjoyed cooking, especially for her family. She enjoyed cooking for her family and taking trips to Atlantic City.

"She will truly be missed," said her son-in-law, Frank Giordano. "She was the life of the party. Her family really loved her."

Mrs. Catalano's husband of 42 years, John, died in 1983.

Surviving are her daughters, Theresa Giordano and Jacqueline Samich; her sister, Jacqueline Fahey; four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

The funeral will be tomorrow from the Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home, with a mass at 11 a.m. in Our Lady of Help of Christians R.C. Church, both Tottenville. Entombment will follow in Woodbridge (N.J.) Memorial Gardens.

Services: Our Lady Help of Christian's RC Church Friday,January 6,2012 11:00AM

Visitation: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home Thursday, January 5,2011 2-4 & 7-9PM

Cemetery: Woodbridge Memorial Gardens

Location: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home

Church: Our Lady Help of Christians R.C.Church