VERA TERRANOVA, 63
12/08/2008
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Staten Island Advance


STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Vera Ellen Terranova, 63, of Todt Hill, a homemaker whose greatest joy was spending time with her family, died yesterday in Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, from complications of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Born Vera Ellen Rooney in Manhattan, she was brought to Rosebank as a toddler. She grew up there and in New Dorp. Mrs. Terranova was a graduate of St. Joseph Hill Academy.

At 16, she met her future husband, Joseph, at South Beach. He dunked her in the water and convinced her to date him. That night, he crashed her Sweet 16 party.

"He was her first and only boyfriend and true love," said the couple's daughter, Elena McNeill.

After marrying in 1968, the couple moved to South Beach. They relocated to Dongan Hills in 1975 and settled in Todt Hill in 1991.

Mrs. Terranova enjoyed reading, especially novels by James Patterson, Nora Roberts and Jodi Picoult. She loved to cook for her entire family.

"She cooked everything great. She really did everything for her family," said her son, Anthony. "She was the greatest mom anyone could ever have."

Mrs. Terranova traveled extensively, taking trips to the Caribbean, Mexico, Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, England, Ireland, California, Canada and Panama, among other destinations. Mr. and Mrs. Terranova visited St. Maarten twice a year since 1984. They spent every summer in their second home in Toms River, N.J.

Mrs. Terranova was a parishioner of St. Ann's R.C. Church in Dongan Hills.

In addition to her husband of 40 years, Joseph J., son, Anthony, and daughter, Elena, surviving are another son, Joseph; a daughter, Alicia Daddio; a brother, James Rooney; a sister, Bernadette Healy, and seven grandchildren.

The funeral will be Thursday from the Casey Funeral Home in Castleton Corners, with a mass at 10 a.m. in St. Ann's Church. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.



http://www.silive.com/obituaries/adv...440.xml&coll=1