Obituary of Geraldine Ruggeri

NAUGATUCK- Mrs. Geraldine "Geri" Theresa (Somma) Ruggeri, 85, of Naugatuck, passed away early Tuesday morning Feb. 25, 2014 at the VITAS Hospice unit at St. Mary's Hospital, Waterbury. She was the wife of Ceasar J. Ruggeri. Mrs. Ruggeri was born in Waterbury, June 19, 1928, a daughter of the late Raymond and Mary (Della Camera) Somma. She was educated in the Waterbury school system, and was a graduate of Wilby High School. She was a Naugatuck resident for 61 years. She had been employed by the Naugatuck Board of Education as Director of the lunch program for a number of years and was a communicant of St. Francis of Assisi Church. She had been a member of the former Catholic Council of Women and the former Naugatuck Chapter # 495 AARP and was a volunteer at Waterbury Hospital. She along with her husband founded the Naugatuck Arts Council and they were instrumental in instituting the Summer Tuesday night concert series on the Green; a program which continues today. Besides her husband of 61 years, she leaves two sons, Paul W. Ruggeri and his wife Cindy of Orange and Robert J. Ruggeri and his wife Lisa of Cheshire; two daughters, Cynthia Ruggeri of Cheshire and Debra Ruggeri of Waterbury; one brother, Raymond Somma of Waterbury and one sister Lillian Farley of Waterbury; 5 grandchildren, Matthew, Anneliese, Emily, Jordan and Joshua Ruggeri, and several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her brother Edward Somma. Her funeral will be held on Saturday Mar. 1, 2014 at 10:30 a.m. from the Alderson Funeral Home of Naugatuck, 201 Meadow St. and proceed to St. Francis of Assisi Church, 318 Church St. for a Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. Burial will follow in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, 669 Platt Rd., Watertown. Family and friends may call at the funeral home on Saturday morning from 9:30 a.m. until the procession leaves for church. In lieu of Flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Ceasar J. Ruggeri Arts Scholarship Fund c/o the Naugatuck Arts Commission, Town Hall, 229 Church St., Naugatuck, Ct. 06770-4145.