Maria Rosa Scorziello

Dear wife of the late Angelo and loving mother of Anna (Joseph Contino), Joe and Silvano. Cherished Nonna to Diana (Nick Mitsiou) and Christopher Contino. Great grandmother to Aliyah and Adonis.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.jerrettfuneralhome.ca for the Scorziello family.

Due to the current COVID 19 guidelines, the attendance for the funeral mass will be limited to 100 guests and family.

Eulogy

By Diana Mazzuca:

My grandmother Maria Rosa Scorziello was born on November 14, 1930 in Roccadaspide, Salerno Italy. She was 1 of 5 children from Domenico and Giussepina Ricco. Her siblings included Raffaele, Grazia, Antonio, and Giussepe Ricco.

In 1956 my grandfather Angelo Scorziello decided to return to Italy to find a wife after settling into Canada. When he returned, he had met my nonna Rosa thanks to her sister Grazia who introduced them. Shortly after they married, my grandfather returned to Canada while my grandmother waited in Italy for her Canadian papers. As my grandmother waited in Italy she would spend time and help take care of my grandfather’s youngest brother Giovanni, who was just a young boy at the time. This was the beginning of how my nonna earned the name Mamma Rosa.

Nonna, Biz Nonna, Big Nonna, Ma, Zia Rosa are a few of the names my grandmother had but one common name held among the family was Mamma Rosa.

Mamma Rosa was a name that truly described my grandmother. She was everyone's mom. When she arrived in Canada my grandparents moved into a house on Cloverdale Rd. that my grandfather Angelo had already lived in with his brothers Joe and Luigi. Shortly after, my grandparents bought their own home on Dufferin St. which is the house she lived in to this day. This house is where my grandmother became the matriarch of the Scorziello family and became everyone’s Mamma Rosa. Over the years my grandmother welcomed her brother in laws Mario, Gerrardo, Antonio, and Domenico. Their house was the stopping ground for the Scorziello family to get their feet off the ground and build a foundation for their own families. In this home my grandmother would not only take care of her 3 children (Anna, Joe, and Silvano) but she also took care of her brother in-laws and their growing families until they were able to save enough money and venture off on their own. My grandmother provided love and guidance to the family but was also militant with everyone in the house making sure everyone had a certain chore and contributed in some way. This was how she earned her name.

My grandmother’s pride and joy was her garden (il giardino as she would call it). She would grow everything you can possibly think of and ship out her harvest to the family and fellow neighbours. Providing everyone with fresh organic food made her happy. I remember spending time in my grandmother's garden watching her plant her tomatoes and prune her fruit trees. This was truly an experiential learning experience for me as I would watch her graft different plants onto the same tree and watch her constantly compost to keep the soil rich in nutrients. This was all before everyone jumped on the composting band wagon. My grandmother was always worried about her garden and still this year was hounding my uncles to (zappa la yarda). While my grandmother was staying at my mom’s early in the spring she was itching to get back home to make sure my uncles had the garden prepped and ready for the plants. We tried to convince her to stay as it was like a mini vacation, but she would insist “no i like my house, i have to check il gardino”.

As many other Italians, my grandmother loved to cook, especially with everything collected from her garden. There were no such thing as processed foods in her house as she would use and save everything from her garden to last over the winter months. My grandmother also loved to bake. She would make Italian sponge cake and I swear she would use half a bottle of Rum, but it was soo good. Probably one of the reasons everyone would be super happy after dessert. My grandmother had a really big sweet tooth and she wasn't ashamed to show it. Whenever we would have a special occasion, we would make her a plate and she would specifically say “not too much”, then when it came to dessert time we would ask her “Nonna tu vo nu puoco dessert?” and she would always reply “ma sure” and this plate she never said “not too much”, we would point to a dessert, you want this? “Ok” you want to try this one, “ya ok”, what about this nonna? “Ya thats a good”. Now this plate she would devour!

Nonna was kind, generous, patient, and one of the most easy-going people I have known. Even through everything she had been through in her life, one would never know what burdens or stresses she would carry. She always seemed as though she was carefree and would go with the flow. Devoted to her Catholic faith, nonna would pray the rosary 50 times a day, or that's what it looked like. Everytime I asked her what she was doing she would reply, “ I pray the rosary”, and everytime she would come visit she would set up shop on the couch, pull out her rosary and pray. She prayed for every single person in the family to ensure they are all protected and safe. Family was everything to nonna. She always wanted to make sure everyone was taken care of and kept in touch with every single family member to see how they were doing and make sure that they were doing well.

After 90 full years of life, she was mother to 3 (Anna, Joe, and Silvano), aunt to over 17 nieces and nephews, grandmother to 1 and great grandmother to two.

They say that our parents give us life but our grandparents give us a sense of who we are and where we came from. As we say goodbye to my Nonna Rosa, I cannot express how lucky I truly am to have had her in my life for 35 years, and how lucky my children Aliyah and Adonis are to have met their Biz nonna, or Big nonna as Aliyah likes to say.

Nonna you have taken care of so many people here today. You had an integral part in shaping who the Scorziello family was and influenced us greatly. Although saying goodbye is hard, I think everyone would agree that we are at peace knowing you are up in heaven laughing and enjoying yourself reunited with nonno, daddy, zi mario, zi teresa, zi gilardo, zia dora, zi luigi, and johnny. We will always love you and keep a special place in our hearts where you will live on forever.