QUEENS – Erminia Motika, a longtime resident of Queens, formerly of New Jersey and Italy, passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, February 14, 2021. She was 100.
Daughter of the late Giovanni and Rosa (Smilovich) Pavichievaz, she was born in Pola, Italy on January 23, 1921. Erminia dedicated her career to education as an elementary school teacher. On September 21, 1941, she married Victor Motika at Our Lady of Mercy in Pola. She was predeceased by her husband on October 2, 1980.
Affectionately remembered as “Nonna Mima”, Erminia is survived by her loving family, including her son, Franco Motika & his wife Margaret of Hopewell Junction, NY; her daughter, Lidia Bastianich of NYC; her grandchildren: Joseph Bastianich & his wife Deanna of New York, NY, Tanya Manuali & her husband Corrado of NYC, Paul Motika & his wife Caroline of Lake Oswego, OR, Estelle Loren & her husband Gus of Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, and Eric Motika & Joshua of Los Angeles, CA; her great-grandchildren: Olivia Bastianich, Miles Bastianich, Ethan Bastianich, Lorenzo Manuali, Julia Manuali, Sofia Motika, Adrian Motika, Desmond Loren, Ruby Loren; as well as many other loving relatives & friends.
In addition to her husband and parents, Erminia was also predeceased by her granddaughter, Christina Motika, in 1976; and her sister, Lidia Fonio, in 2001.
All services will be private at this time. Interment will be at St. Denis Cemetery in Hopewell Junction, NY. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Pl., Memphis, TN 38105 (www.stjude.org) or the American Heart Association, PO Box 417005, Boston, MA 02241-7005 (www.heart.org).
Arrangements are under the direction of McHoul Funeral Home, Inc., 895 Route 82, Hopewell Junction, NY.