Carolyn Celeste Cerchiai “devoted her life to her family,” they wrote. “Carolyn’s warmth touched everyone who knew her.”
Mrs. Cerchiai died at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital on Jan. 22. She was 80 and had a respiratory illness.
As a babysitter who entertained those in her care with games and harmonica playing, she was “thought of as a second mom to many children in Springs,” her family wrote. She also played the guitar.
She was born in Astoria, Queens, on Feb. 19, 1944, to Gus Diamandis and the former Rosemarie Marozzi, one of five sisters. Her family moved to Springs when she was 13, and her parents opened Gus’s Restaurant in Maidstone Park, now home to Rita Cantina.
After graduating from East Hampton High School, she worked as a nurse’s aide at Southampton Hospital, “before meeting the love of her life,” her family wrote. Cesare Cerchiai was an East Hampton Town police officer. The two were married on Feb. 8, 1963, and settled in Springs, where they raised three children.
Mrs. Cerchiai later went to work in floral design at the Maidstone Club alongside her daughter Stephanie Cerchiai, who Ilives in East Hampton. She was there for 34 years.
She is additionally survived by two other children, Michael Cerchiai of San Francisco and Michelle Severance of Sag Harbor, by two grandchildren, Garrett and Cole, and two sisters, Joan Field of East Hampton and Susan Flaherty of Florida.
Her husband died in 2014. She was also predeceased by her sisters Diana Cattone and Linda Tuthill.
