Caterina Carone; Seamstress, Bridal Shop Owner

Caterina Carone, a Ventura resident who immigrated to the United States from Italy, died Monday. She was 88.

Carone was born Nov. 4, 1909, in a village near Naples. She moved to the United States with her husband and settled in Chicago. In 1946, acting on advice from friends who had visited Los Angeles, the couple moved to Compton.

Carone, a seamstress, worked for a time for Richard Blackwell, the razor-tongued designer whose annual worst-dressed list skewers celebrities and royalty.

“She always said he was a nice man, loving and very kind,” said Margie Compton of Ventura, a friend who served as Carone’s caregiver. “She had a beautiful watch that Mr. Blackwell had given her.”

After leaving Mr. Blackwell’s employ, Carone started a bridal shop that she ran out of her Compton home. In 1975, after her husband’s death, Carone retired and moved to Ventura.

“She was a wonderful person; I loved her, she was like a mother to me” Compton said.

Before she became ill and needed care, Carone was a meticulous housekeeper whose home and garden were filled with touches of Italy.

“She had tile imported from Italy and had it put in her house,” Compton said. “And she had a fabulous garden, with tomatoes, zucchinis, onions and garlic. She loved to cook and made some delicious dishes with what she grew.”

Carone is survived by her sons, Gene and Vito of Ventura; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Friday at Sacred Heart Church in Ventura. Burial will follow at Ivy Lawn Cemetery.

Arrangements are under the care of Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura.