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Obituary for Fiorenza "Florence" S. D'Orazio
On Saturday, December 22nd 2018, Fiorenza Serafini D’Orazio crossed over peacefully, surrounded by her family. Services will be held 11am - January 19 th 2019 at St. Phillip Neri, 3100 Van Buren Street, Alameda CA.
She was born on May 4th 1932, to Icilio and Catarina Serafini in Rome, Italy. The youngest of 13 children, she was called Solima until her father went to city hall to record her birth and the Registrar, not pleased with this name, suggested that the new baby’s name be changed to Fiorenza as a nod to the family’s Tuscan origin. This was the first of many name changes in her 86 years of life.
Known to her family and friends as Enza, in 1962, at the urging of a friend she began writing letters to Domenic D’Orazio, a handsome Marine from Philadelphia. Their long distance courtship was short lived as Dom soon asked Enza to marry him and traveled to Italy for their first meeting in January 1963. They married in Rome and settled in the United States where she became known as Florence D’Orazio. That same year their first child was born, a daughter named Rebecca, later welcomed Silvia and Stephanie in the years that followed. She was then known as “Mom” and proudly carried that title until 1984 when she became a grandmother, “Nonna”, and eventually a great grandmother, lovingly referred to as “Big Nonna”.
No matter what name you used to refer to her, she was a loved by all who met her. Her ability to make you feel welcome and looked after was the hallmark of her personality. She made friends easily and took great pride in maintaining those relationships over decades. Enza loved Italian romance novels, crossword puzzles, knitting and most of all... her family.
Fiorenza is survived by her husband of 55 years, Domenic D’Orazio, and their daughters Rebecca Henderson (Ralph), Silvia Duchene (Bruce) and Stephanie Anderson. Also by her grandchildren, Jennifer Kindel (Justin), Kelly Olson (Scott), Danielle, Cole, Jaclyn (Matt Dimaggio) and Scott Duchene, Bradley and Logan Anderson, Cara and Nick Henderson. And finally by her great grandchildren, Fiorenza Kindel, Scotty and Micah Olson. She is preceded in death by her beloved son-in-law, Benjamin Anderson.
She will be missed by all that knew her. Her true smile immortalized our hearts, minds and photographs, as she always insisted that someone behind the camera “make me laugh”.
