Obituary of Maria Verdi

Maria Amelia Verdi died on September 23, 2020 at Brandywine Living at Mountain Ridge in Watchung, N.J. She was 87. Jean Verdi, her husband of 44 years, died in Vero Beach, Florida in 2010. Maria will be laid to rest alongside her husband at Hollywood Memorial Park & Cemetery in Union, N.J. on October 24, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. Maria was born on September 25, 1932, in Pico, Azores, Portugal. The eldest of four daughters, she emigrated to the U.S. in July 1959 at the age of 26. Maria was an accomplished seamstress, knitter, and crocheter who worked at Vogue Gowns, the famed dress shop in Millburn, N.J. After the birth of her two children Anna and Robert, she became a homemaker in Maplewood, N.J. Her husband Jean was the Executive Chef at Baltusrol Golf Club, a PGA Championship golf course, in Springfield, N.J. for 34 years. After her children graduated from Columbia High School, Maria worked at ‘Our Place’, a clothing store in Maplewood Village. In 1995, Maria and Jean moved to the Village Green Senior Living community in Vero Beach, Florida. The couple became known and loved for weekly soups that Jean would make outdoors on the barbecue, and crochet handbags and water bottle totes that Maria made. Maria is survived by her son, Robert Verdi and his partner McKenzie Liautaud of Brooklyn, N.Y.; daughter, Anna Verdi and son-in-law John MacIntosh of Brooklyn, N.Y. and grandchildren Fiona, Christina, Olin, and Phoebe.