Theresa LaRussa Romeo was born in Chicago on Sept 19, 1925, the second daughter of Italian immigrants Angelo and Josephina LaRussa. As a child, she and her older sister Phyllis grew up in a lovely home on a tree-lined street in a Chicago suburb filled with beautiful antiques and a grand piano. One day her father came home and sat on the street curb in tears. Like many financial institutions across the country, the banks had failed that day. The country was plunged into the great Depression and their lives were forever changed. The family relocated to Brooklyn, New York and rented the first floor of a home in the Gravesend section and Theresa and Phyllis completed their studies in local public schools. Phyllis met her future husband Jack and married at the tender age of seventeen. Jack showed a photo of his new bride to his good pal Joe Romeo, who declared Phyllis a 'real beauty.' Jack replied, "if you think she's beautiful, wait until I introduce you to her sister."
So began the courtship of Theresa and Joe, which was paused rather rudely one evening as their date took them to the movies. During the film, an announcement was made that Pearl Harbor had been bombarded, and with that, the country plunged into World War II. Joe and Jack were both drafted, and Phyllis and Theresa, like so many women of that greatest generation, were left to shore up the homefront. Their romance continued through the mail, resulting in dozens of letters postmarked with stamps urging Americans to buy war bonds. One day in 1944, Theresa had heard from Joe's family that he had been captured in France, and that his status was unknown. Joe was a prisoner of war for nearly a year. Those love letters would be collected and carefully stored in a heart shaped box for decades. Upon Joe's return home, like so many reunited couples, they planned a wedding. One day in 1946, they went to the movies and saw the film, "The Time, the Place and the Girl." There was a character in the film named Ladislaus, portrayed by the great character actor SZ "Cuddles" Sakall. His performance struck a funny bone with the couple, and Joe changed Ladislaus to Stanislaus, eventually settling on nicknaming his bride-to-be Stan.
As newlyweds, Theresa and Joe moved into an apartment within a row of neat two-story brick houses on West Tenth Street in the largely Italian and Irish conclave of Gravesend. Their first son, Joseph, was born in August of 1947, followed by Michael in February of 1951. By the time Philip arrived in July, 1958, the once-cozy apartment was no longer practical for a family of five. Looking for larger quarters, they settled on a detached two story home further down West Tenth Street.
Having realized their dream of owning a home, both Joe and Theresa worked tirelessly to manage expenses. He would work at the general Post Office in midtown Manhattan on weekdays, and on weekends worked at the extravagant catering hall on Long Island that was owned by Theresa's relatives. Theresa, who had raised three boys and now entered the workforce herself, set her sights on a new kind of personal achievement - owning her own business. She partnered with a former colleague to purchase a franchise of the very popular Loft's Candy shop chain, located at the busy intersection of 86 Street and Bay Parkway in Brooklyn. As a fledgling retailer, she quickly self-taught herself in all aspects of the business, from ordering and managing stock to merchandising and display. After selling the business, she joined the staff of Chase Manhattan Bank's posh executive dining room, where her vibrant personality made her a stand-out server, often asked to wait on David Rockefeller himself. After a decade there, she moved over to the nearby executive dining room at Home Insurance Company, where she worked until her retirement. The next decade was filled with entertaining friends, weekends at the dance studio, travel and caring for her family. After 9/11, Theresa and Joe decided it was time to give up their two-story home in Brooklyn for a more leisurely lifestyle, and at the age of 77, packed up their belongings and relocated to Las Vegas. They settled into a new ranch-style home with a spacious backyard, adopted an adorable lap dog named Clarence and Theresa spent the next years cooking up a storm, visiting with neighbors and occasional jaunts to local casinos and shops.
Born and forged from the greatest generation, Theresa descended from a long tradition of strong woman that nurtured and cared for others - her devotion to her family was matched only by her deep, unconditional love. While her formal education was limited, she always role modeled important life lessons by example. Her strong work ethic was best exemplified in the motto she would often recite to her sons: "First you do what you have to do, and then you do what you want to do...." Whether you knew her as Theresa, Tessie, Tess, or Stan, she certainly lived by those words.
Theresa is survived by her sons Joseph and Philip, daughter-in-laws Barbara, Linda and Diane, grandson Michael Philip, granddaughters Amber and Breanna; great-granddaughters Isabella and Zoe, nieces Josephine, Marilyn, Nadine and Doreen and grand-nieces Diane, Nancy, Kristiana, Michaela, Christina and Maria. Theresa was preceeded in death by her husband Joe, a third son, Michael, her son-in-law Michael Ruisi, and her sister, Phyllis.
At this time, private family services are planned.
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