Lucille Moretti

Remembering and Honoring Our Family Matriarch, Lucille Moretti

Written by Carol Freza, her niece

Lucille Sarli Moretti was born on November 21st, 1927, and died on April
12th, 2025. Reflecting upon my dear aunt’s life three things come to mind: her
endurance, her independent spirit, and most importantly, her love of family.
My aunt endured many periods of heartache and sadness. Lu was the
youngest child of six children born to Frank and Lottie Sarli. As a young child,
she contracted polio, fought it, endured, and thrived. My aunt’s first
devastating loss occurred when her dear brother Vito passed away in his
twenties from kidney disease. As a young mother, Lucille was shattered by the
sudden death of her beloved mother. Frank, her kind father, would live to be
over one hundred. Another blow came when Mary, her oldest sibling, died with
little warning at a young age. Lu endured more sadness as each of her other
siblings passed away: Fran, Ann, and then George. Without a doubt the most
crushing blow came on November 17th, 2003, when John, her loving husband
of over fifty years, died unexpectedly. Her grief over his death never ended,
and my aunt often said that she was ready to join him. She felt alone as “the
last one standing.” It was extremely difficult when two of her oldest nephews
and her first niece, Jim, Bob, and Mariann, passed away. Lu often reminisced
about babysitting for them. In 2018, another shocking, tragic loss hit Lucille
hard when Linda Moretti suddenly died. Linda, her giving daughter-in-law, was
like a daughter to her. In addition to enduring all these terrible losses, during
her later years, my aunt bravely suffered from many painful, physical
ailments; yet, she endured.
Despite losses, Lucille enjoyed a great deal of happiness with her
immediate and extended families. She met the love of her life when working to
help her family at Gazzolo Drug Company. My aunt couldn’t resist handsome
John Moretti with his big smile, big heart, and outgoing, fun loving personality.
They married and had a son and daughter in the 50’s, Johnny and Rhonda.