Obituary of Angela Mecca

Mecca, Angela (nee Manzella) was born at home with midwife and nurse in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York to Adelina Ricciardi Manzella of Forio D'Ischia and Procopio Manzella of Cinisi, Sicily on November 10, 1926. She was baptized a week later by her maternal grandmother Angelina DiMaio Ricciardi's (Richard) uncle, Cavaliere Vito DiMaio, a Franciscan priest of Alexandria, Egypt with water from the River Jordan and was named for her maternal grandmother as was the tradition as the second daughter, first-born her sister, Maria Manzella (1917) later to be Sr. Mary Magdala, a Dominican nun. She was a parishioner and student at St. Joseph the Patron Church, and was deeply involved in and devoted to that community. Angela attended St. Barbara's H.S. and graduated Bishop McDonald H.S. in Brooklyn in 1944 while working in a local meat market and collecting rents for her maternal grandfather, Raffaele Richard during WWII. That same year, she entered Fordham University, NYC and graduated from The Ladycliff College in Highland Falls, NY, in 1948. She then attended St. John's Law School in NY, one of only three women in a class of 150 students. Her post graduate job was a social worker at The Angel Guardian Adoption Agency in Brooklyn, where she handed adoptions and foster child placement. In the early 1950s through her best friends, the "Peretta girls" of Brooklyn, she met their cousin, Joe Mecca of Passaic, fell in love and married him in May of 1953, at St. Joseph Patron Church in Brooklyn, with Angela's mother, the church's soloist, singing at their nuptial mass; the wedding reception followed at Tavern on the Green in Central Park, NYC. The young couple honeymooned in Miami Beach and returned to a small attic apartment in East Rutherford where they lived next door to Angela's brother Faro "Ski" Manzella and his new bride, Helen Alves. They shared a telephone line, connected with a walkie-talkie device rigged by frugal Ski and Joe from apartment to apartment . In January 1955, Angela, Joe and baby Anthony Joseph moved to Totowa where they raised "Tony" and two more children, Joseph and Maria, in this small, growing, friendly community. In 1962, Angela became active in the real estate business with her husband, a broker for Mecca Realty, a sideline he had to his work at Kearfott and then his own company, Ceramic Magnetics of Fairfield. She went on to design, decorate and sell many homes in North Jersey with her long-time friend, Tony Campagna of Little Falls. In 1973, upon the death of Joe Mecca, and upon the encouragement of their friend, John Soldoveri, she studied, tested and became a real estate broker, a license she held until her death. Throughout her early days in Totowa, Angela was also active as a parishioner of St. James Church in the Rosary Alter Society, Mother's Guild and other committees. She was also active at Our Lady of Pompei Church, Paterson. She was a member of Hickory Hill Country Club, Totowa from 1961-1970, where the children attended summer day camp and where on Saturday nights she and husband Joe enjoyed dinner and dancing with their friends and relatives on a regular basis. From the early 1960s, she was active in local politics as the wife of Councilman Joe Mecca They attended the annual League of Municipalities Convention together. She served on the local Planning Board. An elected official herself, from 1975 to 1997, she was Totowa's Tax Collector and Treasurer. She retired after 22 years of service to the Borough in 1997. She was also active in the New Jersey Association of Tax Collectors, Treasurers and Administrators. Upon the passing of her beloved husband in 1973, Angela successfully took on the role as sole parent of teenagers, educating them through high school, college and graduate school, with Tony eventually running a successful trucking company, Joe Jr. becoming a local attorney and Assemblyman and Maria becoming a pediatric nurse. Angela was an avid reader and friend of the Eisenhower Library in Totowa, the construction of which her husband oversaw as a councilman in the late 1960s. She held a special place in the heart for the hardworking staff of the library, frequenting it on a regular basis. Angela was a world traveler, having visited Europe, South and Central America and the Far East, visiting China three times and establishing friendships wherever she went. Angela was a member and Treasurer of the North Jersey Soroptimist of Passaic County International which provided scholarships to college bound women and assistance to women's shelters. She made many life-long friends among its membership. Angela was also a active member of the Wayne YM-WHA since its opening where she swam a mile a day several times a week until her 88th birthday. Angela is predeceased by her parents, her brother Faro J. Manzella of Palos Verdes Estates, CA, sister, Sr. Mary Magdala of New Hyde Park, L.I. , her husband Joseph and her son, Anthony, former assistant fire chief in Totowa. She is survived by her daughter-in-law, Carole Toner Mecca of Totowa; her son Joseph A. Mecca, Esq., and his wife Nancy (Pagano) of North Caldwell; her daughter, Maria Angela Vallace and her husband Paul of Needham, MA; eight grandchildren , Julianna, Joseph, Annelise and Christiana Mecca, Marissa Mecca and her son Anthony Joseph of Totowa, and Anthony, Christina and Stephanie Vallace. She is also survived by her long-time friends Tony Campagna of Little Falls and Rev. Jack Carroll of Kinnelon. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the funeral from Festa Memorial Funeral Home, 111 Union Blvd., Totowa, on Wednesday at 8:45 AM. Funeral Mass to follow at St. James R.C. Church, Totowa at 9:30 AM. Interment at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Totowa. Friends may visit Tuesday 2-4 & 7-9 PM. In lieu of flowers, Angela's family would appreciate donations to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library of Totowa, NJ. For more information, go to www.festamemorial.com.