Rose Barbara Tarantino Zang, singer, artist, wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, sister-in-law, friend, died Saturday March 3, 2012, after an illness. She was 89.
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Born to Guiseppe and Lauretta Madea Tarantino in Sikesville, PA, on July 10, 1922, she grew up in Exeter, PA, the youngest daughter in a musically talented family of nine. Her childhood coincided with the Depression, a time of sacrifice and thrift that made a lasting impression on her. After she graduated from high school, she sought her mother’s permission to work in an airplane factory in Linden, NJ, as part of the war effort. She became a “Rosie the Riveter.”
She saved her money from that job, sending some home to her widowed mother, and spending some on singing lessons in Manhattan, NY. She dreamed of a life on the stage, singing with a band. When she landed that dream job, her mother demanded that she return to Exeter, telling her that that was “no life for a woman.”
Instead of hitting the road, she returned home, got a job as a receptionist in a doctor’s office and eventually met William A. Zang, a WWII veteran from West Pittston, PA. They married in 1946 and moved to Newark, NJ, where their first child was born, then to Philadelphia, PA, where they had two more children. In early 1952, they moved their young family to a farm north of Tindall, to live with an elderly relative, Johnson Hall.
Rose would have been the first to tell you that she didn’t learn to cook or sew at home—her older sisters developed those chores into arts—nor did she learn those skills in high school home economics: Her home ec teacher was dating her brother and gave her A’s for just showing up to class. Nevertheless, she pitched in and planted a farm garden, landscaped the farmhouse yard, made countless meals for farmhands and her family, and drove her children to music lessons and 4-H meetings.
Her creativity surfaced in the boxes she’d design for the Box Dinners at Tindall School. The Halloween costumes she made for her children were always originals. She sewed her daughters’ clothes, too, often without a pattern. She loved decorating her home and thrived on company. Many a Sunday meal continued for hours of conversation around the dining room table. Pizza parties were her specialty. Her children’s slumber parties always started with pizza—and ended next morning with pizza for breakfast.
She became a mother again at 40 and repeated the seemingly endless drives to piano lessons and Girl Scouts. Her three older children were by then spending their summers as the B-Boppers, a band that played fairs and festivals around the state. Watching the children perform filled her with happiness – and when they won a contest, she was ecstatic.
Never a club woman or a joiner, she was a member of the St. Ann’s Altar Society of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Trenton and sang in the church choir. As her children grew up, she took up painting. Landscapes and still lifes were her favorite creations. Her painted antique trunks were a sought-after gift. She donated one of these hand-decorated trunks each year to the church’s fundraising bazaar.
On a trip to Italy in 1998, Rose was thrilled to meet a first cousin, a monsignor at the Vatican. In addition to Rome, she visited Milan, Venice, Florence and the Calabria area of Italy, where her parents were born. She also traveled to London and Paris on another overseas adventure. She was known in the family for jumping on a Greyhound bus, a picnic packed for the ride, to visit relatives “back East.”
She lived in Trenton since 1978. Her yard, with its fish pool, flower gardens and bird feeders, gave her great pleasure. She loved—in no particular order—playing the penny slots at a casino; eating crusty Italian bread with butter, her son Bill’s fried fish, her friend Barb’s chocolate cake, and donuts from Anna’s bakery in Jamesport; cheering on the Chiefs no matter how they played; and having friends and family at her table. She kept up with the news, enjoyed crossword puzzles, and was fond of telling and hearing good jokes. She had no use for cats, phonies or sloth.
Her wish was to have a blow-out celebration for her 90th birthday this summer. Her family and friends will remember her spunk and keen wit, her warmth, her interest in their lives, her creativity, and her flair for creating a home not only on July 10, 2012, but always.
She is survived by her son, Bill Zang of Trenton; two daughters, Loretta McClure, of Tulsa, OK and Barbara (Bonnie) Zang, of Worcester, MA; eight grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews; and two sisters-in-law, Patricia DeStefano of McDonough, GA, and Margaret Zang of West Pittston, PA.
Her husband, Bill; her second husband, Glen Kelly; and a daughter, Margaret (Peggy) Ramirez, pre-deceased her.
A Mass will be dedicated in her name at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 4 p.m. A Celebration of Life will be held at the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church Hall on Sunday, March 18, 2012 at noon.
Donations are suggested to Wright Memorial Hospital-Home Health Hospice or to a charity of the donor’s choice.