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HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - Longtime Hastings resident and small business owner, Nancy Strong Caruso died Oct. 7 at the age of 81.
Named "Citizen of the Year" by the Hastings-on-Hudson Chamber of Commerce in 1997, Caruso owned several small businesses and spent time enriching her community as a member of the Historical Society and school district employee.
Born in Torrington, Conn. to Harold F. and Ruth Strong, her family moved to Dobbs Ferry in 1941 when her father was appointed Director of the Children's Village school. After attending Hastings High School, Caruso went on to receive a bachelor's degree in Art History from Wells College in 1952.
In 1961, Caruso and her husband Sam opened "Cup n' Saucer," a luncheonette on Warburton Avenue, where she was known as "Mrs. C." Open until 1973, the restaurant had a thriving lunch crowd and became both a local teenage hangout and a donut shop on Sunday's for churchgoers.
That year, Caruso and three other women started the local newspaper, "The Hastings Enterprise." From 1977 to 2008, she served as the school district clerk for the Hastings Schools. She also operated another business in 1977, called "The Paper Shoppe" until 2008.
Affiliated with the Hastings Chamber of Commerce, Historical Society and Republican Party, Caruso was passionate about giving back to her town.
Friends and family may visit Monday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Edwards-Dowdle Funeral Home in Dobbs Ferry. The funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday at Church of St. Matthews in Hastings, with interment to follow at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Hastings.
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