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Catherine Grillo
Catherine Grillo died on October 21, 2018, at the Shoreham AHRC Intermediate Care Facility. She was 58. Ms. Grillo, who had Down Syndrome, had been a resident of Westhampton since 1991 when she moved in with her sister and brother-in-law, Barbara and William “Bill” Matros and their sons, Matthew and Nicholas.
Ms. Grillo attended Westhampton AHRC workshop and spent her Saturdays with the East End Special Players, participating in many of their productions. She was known and loved by many in the community, who met her as she frequented her favorite restaurant, Baby Moon, shopped with Mr. Matros at Waldbaum’s, or watched her nephew sing in front of the bakery on Main Street. She was always armed with a camera, taking pictures at Westhampton Beach school plays, parties, and graduations. She framed and wrapped her photos, presenting them to their subjects with panache and boundless generosity. Despite her cognitive deficits, she had an amazing memory, remembering everyone’s birthday, and asking after extended family members, whom she may have met once or just heard about in conversation.
In 2011, she moved into the AHRC group home (IRA) on Montauk Highway in Westhampton where she lived until 2018, when she became physically disabled and moved to the Intermediate Care Facility in Shoreham.
She is survived by Bill, Barbara, Matthew, and Nicholas Matros, as well as her nieces-in-law, as she called them, Ivy and Karen; and four grand-nieces and grand-nephews, Emilia, Sophia, Luca, and Clarence. She is also survived by her brother, Francis Gregory Grillo of Pennsylvania, his ex-wife Alice, as well as her nephew, Tom and wife Jessica.
Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Werner-Rothwell Funeral Home in Westhampton Beach.
on Oct 25, 2018