Mariafiore "Fiorella" Miotto

Mariafiore “Fiorella” Scopazzi Miotto was born on May 29, 1933, in Trieste, Italia. She entered the world with her fraternal twin Graziela, into the home of her parents Giovanna and Antonio Scopazzi and her sister Gianna.

Mamma’s home was filled with love, and with the delicious scents of Triestin cooking, whether her mother’s or her beloved grandmother Maria’s, and with the sounds of the 2-year-old twins racing down the halls on their hardy, empty little chamber pots. The fact that this was a favorite memory of Fiorella’s short time with Graziela, (who died before the age of 3 from meningitis), is a testament to Mamma’s lifelong marvelous mischievousness. She was also known to throw little pebbles on visitors from her rooftop on Via Angelo De Valentini with her young friend Pierino, and to skip her piano testing at the Conservatory of Music, walking out the door and back home, when she got a glimpse of just who the judge was.

The port of Trieste imbued Fiorella with a lifelong love of the sea, whether Adriatic, Atlantic, or Pacific. She would swim for hours in the salty waters of Barcola or Rabac, traveling by bus to Croatia even during World War II.

World War II bombings of Trieste, including the balcony of Mamma’s bedroom, almost took Fiorella on a day the family felt too tired to respond to the air raid sirens. Our Nonna Nina was relieved to hear her Fiorella’s voice echoing from the smoke-filled room, “Ma che cossa xe ‘sta puzza?!!” (“But, what is all this stink?!!…”)

World War II also found her father, our Nonno Toni, (who would travel for months at a time in his work as chief steward on civilian ships), taken by the Americans to Fort Missoula, Montana, an Army fort that became a Justice Department-run internment camp, which held stranded Italian seamen, Germans, and Japanese-Americans from 1941 to 1944. Mamma and her family were reunited, through the work of the Red Cross, when Mamma, Zia Gianna, and Nonna Nina arrived in New York City in 1948, on the ship Sobieski, leaving their beloved Trieste to join Nonno Toni in America, where he became one of the bartenders at Hotel Astor. They made their home in the Bronx, where Mamma made her first American friend, Barbara, who remained her dear friend for 77 years.

Shortly after arriving in NYC, Nonna Nina was diagnosed with tuberculous osteomyelitis in her foot, and was hospitalized on Staten Island. The family coped with this new challenge with frequent visits to the hospital for many months, until Nonna Nina was released, cured.

After graduating from St Barnabas High School in the Bronx, Mamma started her freshman year at Hunter College, with a dream of studying chemistry. But a positive tuberculosis test led to her losing her place in college, and she worked in retail for several years instead.

Mamma met the dashing Piero Luciano Miotto at a Davis Cup tennis match between Italy and Australia in 1949, where Piero heard two young women speaking Italian and became both intrigued and smitten by Fiorella. However, Nonno Toni would not allow Fiorella to date until she was 17, so Piero had to wait a long year. They married in 1956, shortly after Piero’s medical school graduation.

In 1957, Fiorella and Piero moved to Long Beach, California, first to Atlantic Ave, then to 10th Place overlooking Mamma’s beloved ocean, and finally to their home of 55 years at 3610 Brayton Avenue. Between 1958 and 1971, Mamma and Papa welcomed 6 children into their lives: Gabriella, Marisa, Marco, Peter, Philip, and Micaela. For a period of time in the early 1960’s, Zia Gianna, her husband Zio Wim, and our cousins Andria, Christiana, and Jaap, newly arrived from The Netherlands, lived together with us—seven children under the age of 8 under one roof!

After years of 4:00am study sessions while her children were asleep, Mamma’s dream of a college education came true in 1973, when she graduated summa cum laude from California State University Long Beach, where she majored in French. After graduation, she remained active with the International Student Association there, and hosted students from Japan and Lebanon.

With time, the Miotto family expanded through marriages, which Mamma welcomed with much joy: Marco with Tricia, and their children Kerryn, Matthew, Alexandra, Michael and Grace; Peter with Mary Beth, and their sons Jimmy and Joe; Philip with Margarita, and their children Clair, Maia, and Sera, and now Philip’s partner Lisa; and Micaela with John, and their children Giulia, Michael, and Gessica. Our Mamma became an adored and adoring Nonna to her 13 grandchildren.

Fiorella had space in her home, garden, and heart not just for people, but for plants and animals of all stripes. She indulged her “St Francis of Assisi” with our pet menagerie of dogs, ducks, cats, hamsters, birds, turtles, rabbits, and horny toads; wisteria, orchids, roses, and geraniums; fig trees, Meyer lemons, Santa Rosa plums, apricots and peaches—truly, a “Fiorella’s Ark and Garden of Eden.”

Mamma’s love of music permeated her whole life, whether playing piano in her youth, singing “Fish have to swim and birds have to fly” in the kitchen, listening to opera from the Met with Papa on their couch with tears streaming down their faces, or working with the Long Beach Auxiliary of her beloved Los Angeles Philharmonic as a volunteer for decades, including becoming president of her chapter, and a member of Encore. Mamma and Papa would host lovely afternoon music salons in their home over many years, where members of the LAPhil would play cello, bass, violin, flute, trombone or piano in the terrazzo’ed family room on spring afternoons, rain falling on the calla lilies in the yard mingling with the sounds of Chopin.

Fiorella welcomed friends, family and strangers into their home year after year, where the meals, such as risotto or pollo alla marsala or tiramisu were mouth-watering, and the conversations and Italian embraces just as nourishing. Goodbyes could last hours on the front porch under starlight.

Mamma’s generosity and living out of her values were expansive.

It was she who taught us about sharing our family’s wealth, whatever it looked like at the time, with others, whether through the Church, or through organizations supporting children, human rights, the arts, civil liberties, or the environment; whether through currency or through our own sweat.

Fiorella fought off cancer 3 times—breast, colon and skin—over the years between 2005 and 2025, with surgery, chemo, and radiation, with courage and song. After her beloved Piero died in 2020, Mamma was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s dementia. Yet, in the days before she died, she was singing, day and night. She left us on Monday morning, April 21, 2025.

We miss you, Mamma—your gentle strength, your eyes, your sustaining embraces, your voice. How we love you! May you go with God.

…”Il primo amore non si scorda mai.”—Italian folk saying

…”L’amor che move il sole e le altre stelle.”—Dante Alighieri

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In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in memory of Mariafiore “Fiorella” Miotto to one of the following organizations, that reflect Mamma’s breadth of spirit and caring:

1. LA Philharmonic https://www.laphil.com/

2. Plan International USA https://www.planusa.org/

3. ACLU https://www.aclu.org/

Luyben Dilday Mortuary 562-425-6401