Elsa Viola, of La Viola restaurant in Cedarhurst, dies at 65

She met her husband on the job and together they built a life that included 36 years of marriage, three children and the Cedarhurst restaurant La Viola.

After a lengthy illness, Elsa A. Viola died at her home in Cedarhurst on New Year’s Day, She was 65.

The native of Sardinia grew up in Milan and was a “very, very cultured, well traveled and educated,” person, her husband Lino said.

On the Monday after Easter in 1971, they both went to work for Johnson & Higgins in Milan, then one of the largest brokerage firms in the world. It was acquired by Marsh & McLennan in 1997.

“I asked her if we could come back here and she said yes,” said Lino, who gained his interest in the restaurant business by working on cruise ships. However, being on a moving ship and getting seasick helped him decide to anchor any future restaurant on land.

After coming back to the states they first lived in Glen Cove. In 1977, two years after they were married, the Violas began operating in the first location of La Viola on the same street — Chestnut Street — where the present La Viola is located. The Violas and their restaurant became Cedarhurst fixtures.

“She was very pleasant and spoke with the customers, she entertained them, the people lover her,” Lino said. “She always dressed beautifully and was a classy and unique person.”

In addition to her husband, Viola is survived by her mother, Rita Galli (Paolo Galli, deceased), children Paulette, Filippo and Rita Viola, and a sister, Marinella Leandri of Italy.

A memorial visitation was held on Jan. 4 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 and 9 p.m. at the Perry Funeral Home in Lynbrook. A funeral mass was celebrated on Jan. 5 at 9:30 a.m. at St. Joachim’s R.C. Church in Cedarhurst. There was a privately held cremation and the cremains will be interred in Italy.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that an offering be made at church in Elsa Viola’s memory.