Frances Rita Saporito Caruso

Frances Rita (Saporito) Caruso was born on May 22, 1929, the youngest of five children born to Andrew Saporito and Anna Agnes Cucci in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Frances grew up in North Elizabeth, living on Spring Street and later on Jackson Avenue, and attended Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church & school during childhood and young adulthood.

Growing up the only girl with four older brothers (Dominic, Anthony, Francis Vincent, & Andrew), she developed an interest in and excelled in athletics including basketball, where she was a member of a city championship high school girls team. She was a Girl Scout & graduated from the business program at Battin High School in 1947. She worked at Burry Biscuits and later in various secretarial roles at companies including Merck pharmaceutical.

As a leader of the local Catholic singles organization, she met her husband, Freddie Alfred Caruso, while making arrangements for a singles dance at his Knights of Columbus hall. They married and raised three children in Elizabeth, NJ, close to both extended families. She was a full-time mom, teaching them everything from prayer, regular church attendance, academic excellence, family teamwork, civic engagement, to sports(tennis was her favorite), & cooking. She also instilled in them a love of the performing arts, with many trips to plays and operas. She kept fit as an avid ballroom and line dancer well into her 80's, ending only after a tennis backhand lunge resulted in a hip fracture at age 87. She was a tireless advocate for all children, born and unborn. She planned and packed for numerous family outings and vacations, always making them fun and never forgetting to pack every needful thing. The family favorite were the cabins at High Point State Park on Lake Steenykill in Sussex, NJ.

After retirement, she and her husband Fred moved to Hendersonville, North Carolina enjoying 10 years of healthy retirement in the NC mountains before Fred's passing in 1997. She remained close to her children's families afterwards, being a super grandma to her 8 grandchildren, enjoying many card and monopoly games with her grandchildren.

Despite serious health challenges in her 90th year, she still enjoyed a large 90th birthday party with many friends and family, followed by an encore trip to the cabin at High Point, where is she was still able to paddle the canoe during a fishing trip and caught three fish. She was also blessed to greet her first great grandchild Gianetta Caruso.

During the pandemic, she left her retirement home and moved in with her son Fred & daughter-in-law Wanda, where she was able to enjoy even more family activities, and her final summer was filled with happy events. She enjoyed many visits with her great granddaughter. She enjoyed lots of backyard sports therapy from her granddaughter Andrea & Andrea 's friend, Kahala. She played badminton, wiffleball, basketball, and swimming/floating in the pool with assistance.

She also enjoyed three separate trips to the North Carolina beach with her children and grandchildren, including surf wading, restaurant trips, ice cream, and pinball. She remained very active despite the pandemic and managed to avoid COVID completely.

Her final months included severe health challenges, yet she endured to the end with a positive spirit (playing beach ball from her rehab bed!), kept the faith, fought the good fight, finished the race, left it all on the field, and received her crown, passing away peacefully in the company of children and grandchildren, rejoining her beloved husband on The Lord's Day, Sunday December 6, 2020, the week of her 61st wedding anniversary.

She is survived by her children: Andrea Louise Caruso Townsend, JD, Esq (husband Michael Townsend) of Pomona, California, Fred Anthony Caruso, MD (wife Wanda Martin) of Fayetteville, North Carolina and Marie Antonia Caruso Colaner of Akron Ohio

Grand children:

Anna Caruso, JD, Esq, Andrew Caruso (wife Tabbatha Hundley),

Anthony Caruso (wife Kayla Adams) and great granddaughter Gianetta Caruso, Aaron Caruso (wife Ann Watson), Adam Caruso, Abram Caruso, Andrea Marie Caruso, and Daniel Fedele Colaner.

A funeral mass will be held at 10:00 A.M. on Saturday, August 7, 2021 at Saint Genevieve Church, 200 Monmouth Road, Elizabeth, New Jersey. Interment will immediately follow at St. Gertrude's Roman Catholic Cemetery, 53 Inman Avenue, Colonia, New Jersey.

Memorial gifts maybe made to:

Right to Life of NE Ohio, 572 W. Market St. #2, Akron, Ohio;

American Guild of Organists (Akron, Ohio Chapter) Scholarship Fund

online at: akronago.org

or by mail to:

Mason Meyers, Treasurer

AGO Akron Chapter

4312 Bramble Dr.

Copley, OH. 44321

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St. Sebastian Parish Foundation

476 Mull Avenue

Akron, OH 44320