Vittoria Martina Corrado (Fortunato) was born October 22, 1932 in Bari, Italy. She was the middle child and only daughter of Sante Fortunato and Emma (Mastropaolo). Her brothers were Alfredo and Maurizio.

Vittoria grew up in Bari, Italy before going to study languages and psychology under the tutelage of her Uncle, Nino Mastropaolo, in Lausanne, Switzerland. After leaving Switzerland, she moved with her mother to Caracas, Venezuela, which was where her older brother Alfredo had relocated from Italy.

Traveling to New Jersey to visit relatives, she rekindled a friendship and romance with Joseph Corrado, who she had met on one of his frequent trips to Italy. Joseph proposed in Elysian Park in Hoboken and they were married November 7, 1959.

They lived in an apartment on Boulevard East in West New York before purchasing 606 Hudson Street in Hoboken. Vittoria worked at Arnold Constable on 5th Avenue in New York City before giving birth to her first son, Alexander. While pregnant with her second son, Roger, her mother, Emma, came to help her with her two “darling babies”. Emma went on to found Emma's Custom Dress Shop on East 52nd St in New York City, where she catered to a very elite clientele including Greta Garbo, Nancy Kissinger, Joan Lunden, Theresa Wright, and Anna Moffo, to name a few. Vittoria later would join her mother in the dress shop and also opened Pinocchio Antique and Jewelry shop in Hoboken with her husband Joseph, where together they curated a wide-ranging inventory.

Vittoria enjoyed traveling all over the world with her husband Joseph, especially back to her native Italy. She was lucky enough to take one final trip to her hometown to celebrate her 90th birthday, where she was tearfully embraced by relatives and friends who traveled from near and far to greet her.

Vittoria's pride and joy were her two boys to whom she always showed unconditional love and respect. She was their greatest supporter and loved to brag about them to her friends and anyone else with ears. She loved her grandchildren Gabrielle (Carrasco), Joseph and Francis and her Great Grand Children Miles and Eloise. She also had a soft spot for her pets over the years and most recently was over the moon about the family’s newest addition, Coco Corrado.

She always enjoyed cooking and traveling and later in life would winter in Delray Beach, Florida, where she would take frequent cruises with Aida Haimowitz, Millie and Jean DelForno who were always together laughing, gambling and referring to themselves as “The Golden Girls”.

She shared a passion for opera and classic films with her husband Joseph and was a star in her own right, gravitating toward the likes of Anthony Hopkins, and Lauren Bacall at her son Alex’s movie premieres and blending right in, if not stealing their spotlight. She was jokingly referred to as the “One Take Wonder” as she could nail a performance in one take when asked to do a cameo in some of Alex’s projects.

Vittoria lived a full and wonderful life and will be missed by family and friends. She will be remembered for her fabulous parties at 606 Hudson Street where the who's who of Hoboken would show up, including past and present mayors of Hoboken. Her parties would often end with Vittoria belting out Edith Piaf's ‘La Vie En Rose’.

Vittoria is survived by her sons Alexander and his wife Lisa (Madden), Roger and his wife Michele (Shearn), grandchildren Gabrielle Carrasco and her husband Felix, Joseph and his wife Chelsea (Suffoletto) and Francis, and great-grandchildren Miles and Eloise Carrasco. Vittoria is also survived by numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Visitation for Vittoria will be held this Friday, March 14th, from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM at St. Francis Church in Hoboken.  Funeral mass will begin promptly at 1:00 PM.  Cremation services will be held privately.  

If you are unable to attend, please click the link indicated here to view the livestream of the funeral mass in honor of Vittoria Corrado.