Elizabeth Ann Grilletta

It is with great sadness but also much love and appreciation that we mark the passing of our family matriarch, Elizabeth Mustacchia Grilletta. Mother’s Day celebrations will never be the same without Grammie, but the tradition of reciting each child’s birth story every year will keep her present in our memories.

Born in 1928 to parents Marie Theresa Caminita Mustacchia and Jacob Anthony Mustacchia, she was the only daughter among five siblings. Her brothers include Joachim Mustacchia, Salvador Mustacchia, Nicholas Mustacchia, and Frank Tortorich (from her mother’s previous marriage).  Joachim is her only surviving brother and currently lives with his wife, Ellen Childers Mustacchia, in Charlotee, North Carolina. 

A native New Orleanian, she attended and graduated from John McDonogh High School, and later married Francisco Giuseppe Antonino (Frank) Grilletta, a Third Mate in the Merchant Marine, who preceded her in death. She took great pride in her profession as an administrative secretary at the Archdiocese of New Orleans for two decades.

Kind-hearted, loving, and reserved – but with a sly sense of humor, Liz was an accomplished home chef, gardener, and seamstress. She enjoyed good food, classic films, and music you could dance to (she was quite the jitterbugger!). In both her career and household, she was a master organizer and book-keeper, skills which she, unfortunately, was unable to pass on to either her daughter or grand-daughter.

She is survived by her daughter Mary Grilletta West of Taos, New Mexico; her granddaughter Cammie West and her husband, Sean Patterson; and great-grandson, Finnian Patterson.

Her family was her joy.

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