Viola Iritano

Violetta. Viola. Lucille. Lulu. Lu. Grandma. Great Grammy. Grams. Mom.
“Lucille Iritano,” as she preferred her friends call her, was known as the same personality to everyone, but by many different names. Officially born Violetta Ann Figucia in Woburn, Massachusetts, June 27, 1925 she was the seventh child of Sicilian immigrants Marion Figucia and Frank Figucia. She established a life that would be enriched intensely by one thing: family. She cherished it, lived for it, and obsessed over its safety, security and happiness.
As the seventh of 11 children (survived by Sammy Figucia, Loretta Figucia and Sally Cannon), Lucille raised her brothers and sisters. It was something of which she was supremely proud. In her early youth, she helped her mother with the raising of the household, then guided her siblings after the early death of their mother in 1949.
In a short 1946 moment, Lucille changed her life’s path. Outside a movie theater, she met Salvatore Iritano, who, like Lucille, preferred another name: “Sam.” Sam was a professional jazz guitarist and born of Italian immigrants (doubly attractive to Lucille). Early on, the two went to music clubs and shows, falling in love over great food, music, and common life goals, such as growing a family.
The two of them would marry in Boston on June 11, 1950, make a home for themselves in Woburn and would have five children: Rich in 1951; Mary and Barb, the twins, in 1952; Patty in 1957; and Cindy in 1964. During the 1960s, she would move from coast-to-coast, back-and-forth: Boston to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Florida, Florida to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Boston, and Boston to Los Angeles, again. In 1973, they finally settled down in Ventura County, California. After her Sam’s death in 1999, her family would reciprocate the same devotion that she paid them as children. Lucille enjoyed life, surrounded by her five kids, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Each one of these people, dear to Lucille, gave her joy as they built their own lives and paid homage to the matriarch through their own love to their own families.
Lucille lost a short fight with cancer on May 14, 2016 at her daughter Mary’s house in Simi Valley, California, where she was under the loving care of her children and grandchildren.
Lucille had an old-fashioned life: the embodiment of a mid-century American Dream. Her values, however old-fashioned to some, are ones that people close to her will respect and respawn. A love, devotion, appreciation and dedication to family will be Lucille’s legacy, as her heirs watch their families grow through the same watchful eyes, filled with concern and love.
There will be a visitation at Reardon Simi Valley Funeral Home on Sunday, May 22, 2016 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. with a rosary beginning at 7:00 p.m.. On Monday, May 23rd, there will be a Funeral Mass at St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Church in Thousand Oaks, CA at 10:30 a.m. and a Committal Ceremony at Assumption Cemetery in Simi Valley immediately following the Mass.