Claire Formosa

As we celebrate the life of Ronnie Formosa

Claire Ettore, a.k.a. Ronnie, was born August 7th, 1922, in her mother's bed in North Bergen, New Jersey. Smart and loquacious as a child, she skipped 8th grade, advancing directly into Emerson High School. After graduating from Emerson she worked in Manhattan for an Italian advertising agency, where she met all kinds of performers, actors, actresses and opera singers who were all trying to break into show business. She loved that first job, but moved on to raise her three children. She loved her later work as well – as a real estate agent and later as receptionist at Hickory Industries. She hated being idle.

Growing up in a family with one brother and three sisters, the girls were often competitive, especially about clothes. They were crazy for fashion and only wanted the best designer things. One time at Christmas, our mother and her sister Ava cut out an Oscar de la Renta label and sewed it into something they bought at Lord and Taylor, just to make their other sister, my Aunt Marie, happy. Growing up the girls' favorite color for clothes was black. “When we were little, we didn't know they made clothes in different colors!" After my mom got married, she defiantly started to wear other colors. She always dressed well.

A staunch Republican, she still had her "I Like Ike" umbrella, when her grandchildren were little she bought them Bob Dole puppets when he was running for office. Since she video taped President Nixon's funeral, she would excitedly ask guests if they wanted wanted to watch it with her. And although it was best not to bring up politics, it came up often.

She married our father Daniel on April 7th, 1951 at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan. Our father and mother loved to dance, so they would cha-cha and meringue around the house and go dancing whenever they could. Sadly, our father died in 1974 – she never remarried.

Her constant companion was her sister Ava, and everyone knew them as a team. Almost unrecognizable without the other, they hit all the stores together, especially at Christmas, when they searched hi and low for everyone’s perfect gift, with an overload of purchases.

Our mom was stoic, brave, and never gave up! After she stopped driving she would relentlessly stay connected online, constantly on her iPad. She loved her children, grandchildren, sisters and brother and nephews feircly .

She loved life.

She will be missed.

Michele, Dan and Jeffrey