Maria C. Roda, 91, of Vero Beach, passed away peacefully of natural causes in her Vero Beach home on Jan. 16, 2016.
She is survived by her sister Anita Scafidi and her nephew Gaetano Scafidi, both of Genoa, Italy, her late husband’s daughter, Emma Pino of Medford, N.J. and numerous step-grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband Gennarino (James) Roda, a World War 1 veteran and Purple Heart recipient.
Roda was born in Lipari, Sicily, Italy, married Jimmy there and moved to the United States in 1958, first residing in Magnolia, N.J. and then moving to Vero Beach in 1970, she had no children.
Her beloved husband, Jimmy, passed away in 1990.
In addition to her extensive family, Roda will be remembered in Vero Beach as a warm and loving person, an accomplished seamstress, and an avid bridge player, achieving the rank of Silver Life Master by the American Contract Bridge League. It was a world she dearly loved and she could be found virtually every day at the Vero Beach Duplicate Bridge Club.
A Prayer Service and Celebration of Maria’s Life will be held at Strunk Funeral Home, 916 17th Street, Vero Beach, FL on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 10 a.m. She will be interred at Crestlawn Cemetery, just across the street from the Vero Beach Duplicate Bridge Club where she can be near many player friends she made over the joyous days of her happy life in Vero Beach.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Vero Beach Duplicate Bridge Club, 1520 14th Avenue, Vero Beach, FL 32960 or the charity of one’s choice.
