Gilda Merenda

Gilda Merenda, mother of five, grandmother of seven and great grandmother of one passed away peacefully on November 29, 2020.  Gilda spent her last days at her Valley Stream, Long Island, home surrounded by many who loved her including her beloved brother Robert Spinillo, and will be greeted at heaven’s door by her late husband Edward R Merenda, baby sister Dolores, kid brother Alfred and their parents Guisipina and Angelo.  All the Spinillos emigrated to America from San Pietro Al Tanagro, a small village in the province of Salerno, in the Campania region of south-west Italy, and settled in Brooklyn, New York.  Gilda was an artisan pattern maker and seamstress by profession, and an artist who would ‘whip up’ a couture outfit out of leftover lace and last year’s curtains!  Most of all, Gilda loved cooking, baking and making crafts out of shells collected from the shores of Noyac Bay adjacent to her summer home.  Friends, neighbors, aunts, nieces, nephews, cousins and extended family delighted in the many delicious baked goodies and Christmas ornaments “Hand Crafted by Gilda”. 

Funeral arrangements utilizing Covid limitations and restrictions will transpire Thursday, December 3rd, at Lieber Funeral Home located at 266 North Central Avenue, Valley Stream, New York 11580 (516.825.2900).  Viewing hours are from 10am to 12pm noon, to be followed immediately by a Funeral Prayer Service from noon to 12:30pm.  Prayers will be conducted by the Reverend Kyrian Echekwu, PhD, who visited and prayed with Gilda every Friday while under hospice care since February 2020, including the Last Rites on Friday after Thanksgiving. 

For those wishing to make a donation to Gilda’s hospice caregiver, their contact information is MJHS Foundation, 39 Broadway, 3rd floor, New York, New York 10006.  Gilda would have turned 100 in February and touched many during her time on Earth.  May her soul Rest in Peace.