Irene Ann Mazza
Loved cooking, entertaining
Irene Ann Mazza, 88, of Vero Beach, Fla., formerly of Canonsburg and Bethel Park, died Sunday, January 12, 2014.
She was born September 8, 1925, in Washington, a daughter of Joseph and Anna Humenik Tokar.
Mrs. Mazza was a graduate of Bentleyville High School, attended California Teachers College and was a 1948 graduate of Washington Hospital School of Nursing.
As a nurse, she worked for Canonsburg Hospital, Washington Hospital and Mercy, Allegheny General and St. Clair hospitals, all in Pittsburgh, and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Baltimore, Md., where she was a head nurse until her retirement in the early ’70s, when she and her husband moved back to Bethel Park.
She was a member of Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church in Vero Beach and was a former member of St. Luke’s Church in Bentleyville, where she and her husband, Ernest, were married, St. Patrick Parish in Canonsburg and St. Germaine in Bethel Park.
Mrs. Mazza loved cooking and entertaining. She was famous for her meatballs and for once serving them to more than 30 people from a motel room hot plate in Florida.
On August 27, 1949, she married Ernest J. Mazza, the love of her life for 64 years, until his death August 5, 2013.
Surviving are three children, Ernest D. Mazza of Vero Beach, Kenneth J. Mazza of Baltimore and Susan K. Mazza (Arnold LaGuardia) of Del Mar, Calif.; two grandchildren, Monica Breitenbach (Ben) of Atsugi, Japan, and Anthony Mazza (Kelsey DeSimone) of Baltimore; two great-grandchildren, Rosalie Valentine Breitenbach and Harper Elisabeth Mazza; two sisters, Marty Squitero and Dorothy DeLuca, both of Silver Springs, Md.; and many nieces and nephews.
Deceased are a daughter Lisa Ann Mazza; two brothers, John and Frank Tokar; and two sisters, Mary Watkins and Betty Tokar.
A memorial Mass will be announced at a later date. Condolences may be left by viewing the obituary at www.mcilvaine-speakman.com.