Caroline “Nina” Collerone, age 81, of Somerville passed away on Tuesday, April 4th at home surrounded by her loving family. Born in Barrafranca, Sicily, she was the daughter of the late Michele and Catena (Salamone) Carnazzo. Nina emigrated to the U.S. as a child and lived in Boston’s North End before moving to Somerville, MA. She graduated from Somerville High School and lived in East Boston before returning to Somerville in 1992. Nina worked as a supervisor at John Hancock, took a break to care of her children. Her love of baking lead her to work at BJ’s in the bakery department. She loved to prepare food for her family and was famous for her eggplant parmigiana and Pizzelles. Nina enjoyed watching Hallmark movies, having coffee with her brothers & sisters, and listening to Tony Orlando, Connie Francis, Mac Davis and Tom Jones.
Nina was the devoted mother of G Collerone, Maria Collerone, and Sabrina Jannuzzi and her husband Steven. She was the loving grandmother of Brian Cameron, Kayla Cameron, Ariela Esmurria and her fiance, Luigi LoBrutto, and Isabella Jannuzzi. Nina was the dear sister of Lucy Chiarello and Bridget Pugliese, Paul and Peter Carnazzo, and the late Joseph and Michael Carnazzo. She is survived by many loving nieces, nephews and cousins, here and in Sicily.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in St. Ann Church, 399 Medford St., Somerville, on Friday, April 14th at 10 AM. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend an may visit with family in the Dello Russo Funeral Home, 306 Main St., Medford on Thursday, April 13th from 4 through 8 PM. Friday’s services will conclude with burial at Holy Cross Cemetery, Malden.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent in Nina’s name to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memorials Processing, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959.