Eloise Laura Mezzatesta

Eloise Laura Mezzatesta, age 76, passed away peacefully on April 26, 2022, at her home in Murrells Inlet, SC, surrounded with love of family and friends. 

Eloise, “Elly”, was born April 12, 1946, in Bronx, NY, to the late, Grace Alice (Leib) and Clifford Ralph Vogel. Elly grew up in Paramus, NJ, and was the youngest of 3 children. Her sister Virginia, was 10 years older and her brother Richard, “Dicky”, 7 years older so Elly spent a lot of time with cousins, Aunt Ethel, and her Granny, as she grew up. She had known her husband, Richard, most of her life, as he lived around the corner, but as Elly remembered, “He never took notice until I had a figure.”  Elly and Richard married July 27, 1963 at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Paramus, NJ. They moved to Portsmouth, VA where Richard was stationed with the Navy.  Their daughter, Dana, was born there and when Richard was done with his assignment, moved back to NJ with family and Dawn was born. Working for Con Edison in Peekskill, NY, Richard and Elly moved to an apartment in Peekskill.  They moved their family to their first home on Davies Drive, in Wappingers Falls, NY, where they lived for 15 years.  They bought property on the border of where Dana and Dawn went to elementary school.  It had a creek running through it, which came from a small lake along Kent Road.  They lived in that home for the next 15 years.  Elly and Richard travelled so much, meeting with family and friends over the years, seeing the country, and found some lakefront property on Lake Chesdin, in Petersburg, VA where they retired to in 2000.  Winter vacations to Florida grew increasingly longer over the years, when Elly and Richard decided to move further south to Murrells Inlet, SC in June of 2019.  They loved having a home near the ocean and a community where there were activities, pool, people to see, and things to do.  Elly always said she went from the city, to the suburbs in NJ, to the country in NY, to her lake house, to the ocean; so she felt she lived everywhere.

A savvy domestic engineer who shared her skills with others she cleaned homes for, but her passion in life was being a Mom.  Elly was a wonderful, fun-loving mother; she always said that she grew up with her girls.  Passionate about life, always dancing, singing, cooking, entertaining, and willing to go on an adventure.  Elly led her girls in Girl Scouts, coached softball, and took them and their friends on hikes, bike rides, played games, did puzzles, painted, and sailed. “Volunteer” was Elly’s middle name, not only with Girl Scouts and rec leagues, but also at the New Hackensack Fire Department, alongside Richard.  Elly instilled all of her loves and passions into her grandchildren, Jessie, Bobby, and Justin, as well.  She is the family’s greatest cheerleader and supporter of anything that we loved.  Elly enjoyed kayaking, sail boating, exercising, gardening, swimming, cleaning, travelling, going to museums, and beach vacationing.  Sharing her knowledge of just about anything was what Elly did; her daughters often referred to her as Cliff Claven, from the show “Cheers”, or would say, “Here’s Paul Harvey and the Rest of the Story”! Mom was “The Bomb” at playing Pictionary and Trivial Pursuit.  Elly enjoyed the company of others, always striking up conversations about anything:  migrating butterflies, to which and when to plant trees, bushes, or flowers.  One of Elly’s many talents were finding unique fixes or repairs for things using duct tape or other innovative ideas.  She always managed to smile and laugh, enjoyed living, and loved making others happy.  She was very generous with her time to help others and be with others.  Elly was always creative in the kitchen putting together meals or leftovers by spicing up different recipes.  You could find her contemplating the next meal while eating her current meal with wine glass in hand.  She loved to entertain with delicious food or tea, games, figuring out the next puzzle piece, or playing a tune on her player piano.  Words with Friends was another favorite game of hers where she was quite competitive.  On road trips, she enjoyed stopping to have a picnic along the way.  She enjoyed eating healthy, while creating desserts with healthier ingredients like her famous cake recipes with canned fruit.

Elly was the bravest, strongest, smartest, and most loved person we have ever known; especially, in her struggle and the challenge of ALS which was diagnosed a year ago.  She'll be dearly missed by family and friends, but will know that she'll always be treasured in our hearts with so many loving memories.  We will miss her positive attitude, fun poses, and her laughs at our many fun gatherings.  We will continue to treasure her wonderful photos of landscapes, people, flowers, and beauty from her eyes to ours.