Many will remember Catherine Quoma from her walks up and down Greenwich Avenue. Some will remember her for the many years she worked as a server at Greenwich Country Club, which she did until well into her 90’s. Sadly Ms Quoma died on Tuesday, which happened to be her 98th birthday.
We met Ms Quoma back in 2015 at her home at The Mews on Bolling Place. At the time, she declined to have her photo taken because her goal was to bring attention to her brother, who had been a prisoner of war during World War II.
During our 2015 interview with Catherine Quoma, she held a photo of her brother, Ferdinand Merengolo and fellow sailor taken in Hawaii in about 1941 before Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Photo: Leslie Yager
It became her life’s mission to ensure “The Forgotten Men” would be remembered.
Ms Quoma, whose husband and father were also in the Armed Services, said she wondered every day what her brother Ferdinand Frank Meringolo would have accomplished if he hadn’t been executed in a Manchurian work camp in 1943.
Quoma said she remembered hearing Hitler’s voice on the radio in 1942 and how her entire family had to run to the basement. At the age of 18 she joined the Red Cross and met her husband in 1945 in New York City.
A religious ceremony for Quoma will be held Wednesday, March 13, 2024 from 11:00am to 11:30am at Leo P. Gallagher & Son Funeral Home, 31 Arch Street, Greenwich, CT 068306512.
Following the religious ceremony will be a committal service from 12:15 pm to 12:30 pm at Oak Lawn Cemetery, 1530 Bronson Rd, Fairfield, CT 06824.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make donations to an organization that was very important to her which is Homes For The Brave in Bridgeport Ct. The phone number if needed is (203) 338-0669.
See also:
Greenwich Woman’s Veterans Day Request: Honor Ferdinand Meringolo and All “The Forgotten Men”