ALMA MORTON MOORE VAZZANA 1929-2026

Alma Vazzana, age 97, died peacefully at home on July 8, 2026. She was known for her love of music, love of travel and love of good humor.

She was born in Wilson, NC on February 3, 1929 to Solon Balias Moore and Flossie Mae Davis. Her father was an architect and mother a seamstress in her home town of Wilson, where she grew up and attended school. After graduating from Charles L. Coon High School, she attended Atlantic Christian College where she was a cheerleader.

Always an entertainer, she often performed pantomime, now known as lip syncing, to the most popular songs of the time. Additionally, she and her sisters performed together in 3 and 4 part harmony in local spots in North Carolina. It was through singing and performing that she met her husband, Anthony Vazzana, an accomplished pianist. They married in 1953 and soon moved to Connecticut where they began their family.

Following her husband’s career move, she and Anthony relocated to Manhattan Beach, CA in 1957 where she raised their four children. During that time she enjoyed gardening, bridge clubs, painting and sculpting and eventually returned to school where she earned an Associates Degree in Art from El Camino College. She later returned to the work force in several administrative secretarial positions at El Camino College, Flying Tigers, and Manhattan Beach Unified School District from which she retired.

Throughout her life she enjoyed traveling, many times across the US, and throughout Europe, taking the family on a 7 month sabbatical trip through over 10 countries. Later she and her husband traveled to Greece, the British Isles, Canada and Italy.

After retirement, she moved to Austin, TX where she enjoyed singing in the church choir, sewing and quilting as her mother had taught her and beginning her expansive collection of antique postcards.

She cared for her husband for many years after he suffered a debilitating stroke and eventually was able to return to her California home where she lived out the rest of her life.

She is survived by her four children, Michael “Gene” Vazzana (Donna), and daughters, Sara “Lisa” Vazzana, Eva Vazzana and Adrienne Vazzana; four grandchildren. Nicholas Vazzana, Elisa Vazzana, Robert Vazzana and Danielle Gray; and three great-grandchildren, Tatum Boehmke, Roselyn Vazzana and Anthony (Tony) Vazzana.

The family asks that donations be made in Alma’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association.