Esther M. DeCaro Phillips Carosi, 94

Esther M. DeCaro Phillips Carosi, 94, of Palm Bay, Fla., passed away June 3, 2023, in Florida.

Born in Elwood City on Nov. 6, 1928, she was a daughter of the late Luigi and Ciara Bilott DeCaro.

She was employed as a government administrative specialist.

She was a member of Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Palm Bay, Fla., and All Saints Parish, Saint Paul Roman Catholic Church in Butler.

She was also a member of the Sons of Italy, of Palm Bay, the Greater Palm Bay Senior Center, Senior Resource Association in Vero Beach, and the Alzheimer & Parkinson Association of Indian River County in Vero Beach.

Esther was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, and friend. She found joy in baking and cooking Italian foods like her mother did and sharing it with family and friends. Esther loved cooking for her family and friends, and although she loved her son-in-law Al’s cooking and even called him the best “cooker” on occasion, she would offer him suggestions, such as “add a little pastina”, to make it better.

She loved to dance with her husband Lew and to travel with him and their children, often on road trips. She also had an adventurous spirit, traveling alone from Pennsylvania to Washington, DC at the age of 17 to start a job at the Washington Post and yet showing loyalty and commitment by sending money home to her parents to help support them.

Esther played a great game of “hand & foot” and taught it to her children, grandchildren and any others who showed an interest.

She always made an impression, whether it was going from table to table to chat up the guests at her grandson Christopher’s wedding or flirting with the other clients at the SRA day care and the Alzheimer & Parkinson Association’s respite program.

She was a sweet, loving, one-of-a-kind woman who was an inspiration to everyone she met. She had a strong faith in God and lived her life following that faith.

Esther is survived by two daughters, Angela Phillips Diaz and her husband, Al, and Carla Roberts and her husband, Dan; one son, Tony Phillips; four grandsons, Sean Green and his wife, Becca, Christopher Green and his wife, Courtney, Josh Roberts, and Alex Diaz and his wife, Margot; two granddaughters, Brittany Green and her partner, Fred Garcia, and Ashley Roberts Thompson and her husband, Ryan; four great-granddaughters, Rudee Green, Audrey Garcia, Cora Diaz, and Willow Diaz; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her first husband, Lew Phillips, who passed away in March, 1981; her second husband, Lawrence Carosi, who passed away in April, 2016; four sisters, Florence Rizzo, Theresa Rizzo, Yolanda Morrison, and Mildred Bradford; and one brother, John DeCaro.

There will be no visitation.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Fri., June 9, at 10 a.m. from All Saints Parish, Saint Paul Roman Catholic Church, 128 N. McKean St., Butler.

Burial will take place in Calvary Cemetery, Butler.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations to Health First – William Childs Hospice House, 381 Medplex Pkwy., Palm Bay, FL 32907.

Funeral arrangements were entrusted to the care of Martin Funeral Home, Inc., 429 Center Ave., Butler.