Obituary of Carmela Muzio

Carmela Muzio was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY on October 2, 1930. After her father was killed in an industrial accident when she was an infant and her beloved mother Anna remarried, stepfather Michael Girardi raised her as his own alongside three siblings, Annette, Michael Jr. and Maryann. Carmela, known to family and friends as “Bubby” married her childhood sweetheart, Joseph “Chubby” Muzio, and they had two children, Rosemarie and Sebastian. Bubby, also known as Aunt Camille, was further blessed to raise her nephew Louis Basabe who, especially after her son’s premature death in 1979, and along with his wife Helen, became a source of comfort and solace up to her death. Rosemarie and Louis and their respective spouses gave “Nana” the greatest joys of her life — grandchildren Joseph, Carmela, Louis, and Dylan.

After staying home to raise her children for some years, Camille (the name she preferred) became a travel agent and eventually owned her own agency, Opal Travel, which served the Massapequa area and friends and family far and wide for over 30 years. She traveled the world, including the Middle East, China, Europe, Central America and of course the Caribbean, always anticipating her next trip even before unpacking from her last. She appreciated history, languages, food, and varied cultures of the world. When her frequent travel slowed due to the challenges of health and age, she became an avid reader; in retirement these last few years, her greatest joy was watching her grandchildren, great nieces and nephews, and great great nieces and nephews swim in the backyard pool she and her husband had built decades before. In the last weeks of her life, she was moved to joy and tears to meet her great grandson, Sebastian Alexander. In her final days, each and every one of them, she wanted to see the latest pictures of Sebastian, and the newest additions to her extended family, Anthony Pasquale and Maddalena Rose.

Carmela’s life is one well lived. She enjoyed an occasional cocktail - like a Manhattan straight up - and a daily glass of wine. As a teen of 1940s Brooklyn, she was devoted to her church, community, family and friends. As a child of the neighborhood girls club, she had impeccable taste and style. She played the fife in the local band, jarred tomatoes with the Muzio’s every year, and treasured the annual Festa di Giglio in Williamsburg, a tradition from her family’s hometown in Italy.

In the end, her family and friends remember her generosity and kindness. Her daughter Rosemarie, nephew and wife Louis and Helen, grandchildren and respective spouses Joseph & Alex, Carmela & Andrew, Louis, Dylan, great grandson Sebastian, sister Annette, and many loving nieces and nephews are grateful for her life, will miss her, and will share her story with the next generations.