Marie V. D’Arpa, 95, dressmaker

Marie Viola D’Arpa of Palm Coast, Fla., a former Ridgefielder who was an expert dressmaker and a longtime hospital volunteer, died on Saturday evening, Sept. 29, at her home. She was 95 years old and the widow of Dominick D’Arpa, who died in 1976.
Mrs. D’Arpa was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Feb. 6, 1906, a daughter of the late Giacchimo and Angelina Lanzetta Viola. She attended New York schools and had been a dressmaker in New York for many years.
“She started sewing underwear for her brothers and sisters when she was 10 years old,” said her daughter, former Ridgefielder Ellen Ball of Bethel. “She sewed all of her life — she made my wedding gown.”
Her last major project — two christening outfits for great-grandchildren — were completed when she was 92 years old.
Mrs. D’Arpa retired in 1971 and she and her husband moved from Brooklyn to 11 Mountain View Avenue a year later. She had been a Ridgefielder until 1999 when she moved to Florida to live with her daughter, Janet Hogan of Palm Coast, Fla., a former Ridgefielder.
Mrs. D’Arpa was a volunteer at Danbury Hospital from 1977 until 1998. She also was a member of the OWLS, the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, and St. Mary’s Church, all in Ridgefield. She was a member of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union of New York.
She was the oldest and the last of eight siblings.
Besides Mrs. Ball and Mrs. Hogan, Mrs. D’Arpa is survived by two other daughters, Angela DiLillo of Danbury, formerly of Ridgefield, and Antoinette Ruggiano of Daytona Beach, Fla. She is also survived by 20 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren as well as many nieces and nephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday at 10 a.m. in St. Mary’s Church, Ridgefield. Burial will follow in Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Friends will be received in the Kane Funeral Home, 41 Catoonah Street, tonight, Thursday, from 5 to 8.
Contributions in Mrs. D’Arpa’s memory may be made to Hospice of Volusia/Flagler Counties, 3800 Woodbriar Trail, Port Orange, FL 32119.