Obituary of Fernanda Melo de Torres

Fernanda Melo de Torres, 101, of Manalapan passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 (the day after the 55^th anniversary of  her husband’s death).  Fernanda was born in Honda, Tolima, Colombia.  She was raised and had lived in Bogota before immigrating to the United States in 1964.  Along with her husband, Pedro, Fernanda settled in Queens and lived there until moving to Manalapan in 2003.  The assistant to the Wedding Gown Designer at Eve of Milady in NYC, she was a master seamstress for over twenty-five years retiring in 1998.  Her skills stretch beyond the workplace into her homelife, creating christening gowns, communion and wedding dresses for her family and many other garments for her family.  Fernanda was an amazing cook and baker with a passion for decorating cakes (notably wedding cakes for her granddaughters).  Passing on these traditions was very essential to her.  Fernanda enjoyed gardening and had an amazing green thumb.   She spent many hours watching the trees as they changed with the seasons.  Fernanda loved the flowers and birds that visited her on the deck.  Always fun, Fernanda had a wit to her and was always Nona, Ñoa and Noño to those who were closest to her.  Her family was her life.  A parishioner of St. Thomas More Catholic Church, Manalapan, faith guided Fernanda throughout her life. 

Fernanda was predeceased by her husband, Pedro Ignacio Torres; three brothers, Heliodoro, Norberto and Jose Ignacio; three sisters, Isabel, Hilda, and Natalia.  She is survived by her daughter with whom she lived with for the past seventy-eight years, Lydia T Pinzon and her husband, Robert Passante of Manalapan; three grandchildren, Dr. Sandra Pinzon of Morganville, Dr. Gabrielle Pinzon Perrella and her husband, Stephen of Lincroft; and Dr. Jean-Paul Pinzon and his wife, Merci of Falls Church, VA; seven great-grandchildren, Dr. Eve Rosenfeld of San Francisco, CA, Daniel Rosenfeld of Albany; twins, Victoria and Genevieve Perrella of Lincroft, Stephen Lucas Perrella of Lincroft, Natalia Pinzon of Falls Church, VA, and Andres Pinzon of Falls Church, VA; and her goddaughter, Rosalba Parra of Lincroft.

A visitation will be held at the Clayton & McGirr Funeral Home, 100 Elton-Adelphia Road (Route 524), Freehold Township on Sunday, October 23, 2022 from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 PM.  Relatives and friends are invited to gather at the funeral home on Monday, October 24, 2022 at 8:45 AM for the procession to her 10:00 AM Funeral Mass at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 186 Gordons Corner Road, Manalapan, N.J. 07726.  Interment will follow in St. Gabriel’s Cemetery and Chapel Mausoleum, 549 Route 520, Marlboro.  For those who cannot attend the visitation or Funeral Mass in person, you may participate via the funeral home’s webcast HERE.  For those who desire, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.  For information, directions or condolence messages to the family, visit www.claytonfuneralhome.com.