Lucy Ferreri, the matriarch of a large and loving Staten Island family, the epitome of elegance, style and refinement, and a "First Lady of the Greatest Generation," died Tuesday night surrounded by those she held most dear. She was 96. Born Lucia DiSerafino, on Sept 1, 1922 on Nugent Street in Egbertville, Lucy was the fourth child and third daughter born to Anthony and Christina (nee Testa) DiSerafino who were parents of six children.

Lucy's dad immigrated from the town of Sant' Omero in the Abruzzo region of Italy in 1916 and her maternal grandparents, Anthony and Antoinette (nee Venditti) Testa settled in Egbertville, upon their arrival in the United States at the turn of the last century. Lucy graduated from New Dorp High School in 1941, and was one of the first graduating classes of the school founded on Clawson Street during the late 1930's.