Maria Cecere

February 9, 1929 - January 10, 2022

CECERE, MARIA (nee Spagnuolo), 92, of Hawthorne, died peacefully on Monday, January 10, 2022. My mom passed away yesterday at the age of 92 just a month shy of her 93rd. She was a Warrior Queen. She battled until the end but passed peacefully after a two-month stay at a nursing home. I was fortunate enough to have spent the last 3 and a half years taking care of her. It wasn’t easy. But I wouldn’t exchange it for anything. My mom was born in Atripalda, Italy in 1929. She married my dad Giuseppe when he was a coal miner at the time, in Belgium. They gave birth to my brother Ezio (now deceased) there and then moved to Montreal, Canada where I was born. My dad built a successful business as a barber and my mom was a hard-working, specialized seamstress. They were not easy times and they worked non-stop. In 1974, we moved to New Jersey, where my dad continued his barber career and my mom was a seamstress. Almost 50 years later, that journey comes to an end. I was with her when she took her last breath. I told her how much I loved her and what a great mom she was. And she was. This is truly the end of an era. They really broke the mold with her. She was from another era, for sure. She saw war, poverty, death and fought through all of it. Anyone who knew my mom would surely tell you the first thing about her was her big heart. She helped so many people. It was always about giving and not receiving. She was a GREAT cook and I’m proud to say I may have inherited her genes. Thanks, Ma. She loved babies. She loved her nephews and family in Canada and Italy. Most of all, she loved her baby boy. I’ll always miss you but I know you’ll always be there. I love you Ma and always will. Thanks for giving me my life. Your son, Fulvio