Lyla Ruggiero was born Rose Norton on February 25th, 1930 in Bloomfield, NJ to Hilda Norton. Soon after, she was adopted by Leah and Jack Schlessel and they changed her name to Lyla Schlessel. Lyla was raised in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. She attended Tilden HS, where she received the school’s Art medal. Afterward, she attended FIT and graduated with an Associate’s degree in Fashion Design. During her career, Lyla was a runway model, successful fashion designer, and an adjunct professor at FIT. She is the mother of two boys; Jeffrey who passed away in 2014, and Michael who lives in Staten Island. Lyla has four grandchildren, Stephen, Samantha, Daniel and Ariana and two wonderful and loving half-sisters, Fran and Gretchen. Lyla was married to John Ruggiero in 1954 and later divorced. She then had a life partner, Abe. Lyla and Abe were together until 2017. She was truly an amazing woman; loving, caring, fun, and most of all a family person. She will be greatly missed but her loving personality and warm smile will live with us forever.
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