Zia Pia wasn’t the only strong, inspiring Italian woman in our family. Earlier this year, we said goodbye to our beloved Nonna Vera, and we’d like to take a moment to honor her story.
Like Zia Pia Custodi, Vera had a remarkable eye for beauty and was a fabulous cook. She gathered her entire family around a table full of homemade pasta, meats, fresh pastries, and vegetables from her garden. Also like Zia Pia, Vera lived to be 100 years old!
Born in Trani, Puglia, Vera met her future husband, Bill—a U.S. Air Force officer—during World War II while working for the Red Cross. She began a new life as a military spouse and had 4 children: George Custodi, Walter Berg, Lucy Khairy and Caroline Kutil. In 1956, an assignment to the Pentagon brought the family from Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany to Alexandria, Virginia, where Vera lived the rest of her life. A talented seamstress and milliner, she opened her own boutique, La Donna Fashions, in Old Town Alexandria, where she outfitted generations of women from 1980 to 1991.
This Mother’s Day we are celebrating Nonna Vera—and all the grandmothers, mothers, and women whose strength, creativity, and generosity shape and inspire our lives.
