Obituary of Louise DePiro

Louise Cairoli DePiro - beloved wife, mother, aunt, grandmother and friend - died peacefully in her sleep of vascular dementia on April 14, 2023. Born in Newark NJ on December 28, 1939, Louise graduated from Belleville High School in 1957 and married Robert L DePiro on August 27, 1960. Most recently a resident of Cedar Grove, she lived most of her adulthood in Montclair, NJ and Hilton Head Island, SC.

Louise attended Caldwell University (formerly, Caldwell College for Women) and graduated from Seton Hall University, School of Education in 1961. In the 1990s, she furthered her education by completing work towards a Masters in Patient Advocacy at Sarah Lawrence College.

Louise was a math teacher and a volunteer with a GED program in Newark, helping young women receive their high school equivalency. She helped new mothers and gift-givers of all ages as owner of the Little Boutique in Watchung Plaza for 25 years.

Always a teacher, Louise was a golfer, avid reader, brilliant debater, accomplished cook, and lifelong Yankees fan; she will be most remembered for her remarkable curiosity and intelligence. She loved to travel, and made annual visits to Italy where she pursued one of her passions: researching her paternal connections to the Risorgimento (unification of Italy) for a book that she left unfinished due to her disabling dementia.

She is survived by her husband, Robert L DePiro; her children Sally A DePiro, Robert F DePiro and Valerie E DePiro; her grandson Ian James Berman; brother-in-law Ronald DePiro; sisters-in-law Jerri Ann DePiro and Lena DePiro; and, nephews and nieces, Matthew Gutknecht, Amanda Gutknecht, Br. James DePiro, Marie (DePiro) Hardenberg, David DePiro, Joseph DePiro, Sheri Ann (DePiro) Norton, Ronald DePiro Jr, and Gina (DePiro) Condorelli. She was predeceased by her mother Marie Tartaglia Caroli, father Fred M Cairoli, sister Angela (Cairoli) Gutknecht, and brother-in-law Jim DePiro.

A private burial is planned and a celebration of life will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Louise’s memory to Hospice of New Jersey, 400 Broadacres Dr., 1st Floor, Bloomfield, NJ 07003 (hospiceofnewjersey.com ) or Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association Foundation, Inc. STEM Scholarship, 49 Knollwood Rd., Elmsford, NY 10523 (wmga.com).