Immaculata Cuomo

Published: April 25, 1995

Immaculata Cuomo, the mother of former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, died on Sunday at North Shore Extended Care Facility in Manhasset, L.I. She was 92 and lived in Hollis, Queens.

To New Yorkers who followed politics, Mrs. Cuomo was a familiar part of her son's public life. On Jan. 1, 1983, when Mr. Cuomo was sworn in for the first of three terms as Governor, he spoke of his father, Andrea, and his mother, the former Immaculata Giordano, as "the magnificent immigrant couple who came here with nothing but aspirations and a willingness to work hard."

Mrs. Cuomo sometimes campaigned with her son, and Mr. Cuomo was fond of quoting her. Once, in a light vein, he told a reporter that he had attributed a quotation to Aristotle rather than Immaculata Cuomo because people would pay more attention to Aristotle.

Mrs. Cuomo, who was born in Tramonti, Italy, came to the United States in 1927 to join her husband, who had arrived a year earlier. For three years, the couple lived in Jersey City with their three children, Frank, Marie and Mario. Mario died there. The family then moved to South Jamaica, Queens, where they ran a small grocery store. They had another child, also named Mario, who grew up to become Governor.

Andrea Cuomo died in 1981.

Mrs. Cuomo is survived by her daughter, Marie Vecchio of Mineola, L.I., and two sons, Frank, of Copiague, L.I., and Mario, of Manhattan; 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

A wake is to be held from 2 to 5 and 7 to 10 P.M. today at the R. Stutzmann & Son Funeral Home at 224-39 Jamaica Avenue in Queens Village. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9:30 A.M. tomorrow at Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church, at 86-45 178th Street in Jamaica, NY.

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Inspired, he [Mario Cuomo] puts in a speakerphone call to his mother, still living in the old neighborhood, ostenstibly to verify the story. He says, "Ma! What did Papa tell me about the bull and the cow? A writer here wants to know." He lies with delight. The disgust of Immaculata Cuomo, 86, crackles over the phone. "What kind of stupid person would ask you what your father told you about sex?" She asks. "It shows that they're all stupid. They shouldn't be writing books. They should be reading books."

1. Rosenblatt, Roger. "Mario Cuomo - Because he's persuaded so many - if not himself - that he'll be President some day." New York Magazine, Apr 25, 1988 retrieved 26 June 2011

Sources

1. The New York Times, Obituaries, Immaculata Cuomo, 92, Governor's Mother, Published: April 25, 1995 retrieved 26 June 2011