Martha [Marta] Angela Russo of Wilton, CT found peace on Friday, June 21, 2024. She was born to Salvatore and Anna LaFerrara of Leonforte, Sicily in New York City on November 11, 1933, the youngest of their four children after Pete, Josephine, and Rosalia. She adored her siblings, especially Josie, who she considered a second mother and a lifelong confidante. The family spent most of their years in the Bronx. In 1950, she met Jimmy [Vincenzo] Russo at Orchard Beach, also from the Bronx as she was living in Fordham at the time, and he in Belmont (a.k.a. Arthur Avenue). They married three years later, embarking on a sixty-seven-year ride of love and devotion, venture and spontaneity, crooners' dancefloors, and breaking bread as everyone's favorite aunt and uncle, and of course, the doting and proud parents of Jimmy and Richie.

Martha was a modern woman, attending secretary school to work at the Army & Airforce Exchange Service on 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue, and then eventually as the Executive Assistant to the Superintendent of Schools and Board of Education in Woodstock, CT for twenty-seven years, where she and her family lived for thirty-four years and made many great friends.

Martha was a hot ticket. She had a distinctive laugh and an unequivocal whistle that could cut through any dining room, auditorium, or banquet hall. Not only did Martha call it like she saw it, but she accompanied the truth with her quick, sharp, ever clever, and sometimes 'fresh' sense of humor. She and her husband would comedically spar, yielding guaranteed laughs to any and all within earshot.

She genuinely spoiled all her grandkids, and not without her struffoli, Sunday sauce, and famed stuffed artichokes. She taught them the importance of living fully and fully present, and that a rich life shouldn't cost you. Enjoy that leftover dessert for breakfast. Slow down. You've got to burn a few meals first to learn. Fare la Scarpetta. Accept that invitation, especially to travel, and "don't worry, you'll figure it out—fly now, pay later."

Everyone loved Martha. Her energy and heart were contagious. She was Matriarch and although the last of her generation, her legacy lives on in her children James and his wife Gisele of Lebanon, CT; Richard and his wife Margaret of Westport, CT; grandchildren Danielle, Justine [and Justin Spielman], Jack, and Annie; and great- grandchildren Dominic, Owen, and Lucas. Funeral shall be in New York City at a later date.
Donations in Martha Memory shall be made to St. Jude's Children's Hospital. To offer the family online condolences, please visit www.boutonfuneralhome.com.