DOMINIC PAUL CAMARATA, JR., age 80, died September 15, 2005 after a battle with an infection contracted during the hurricane Katrina flood. Due to health complications with his wife, Joyce Genara Sierra, his obituary, mass and burial were postponed to coincide with the announcement of her death, which occurred on Thursday, June 11, 2009. He is preceded in death by his sister Gloria Camarata Benitez. Dominic was born to Dominic Paul Camarata and Ruth Baas on April 18, 1925 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated from St. Aloysius and attended Tulane University. After returning from service in the Navy during World War II, he married Joyce Genara Sierra on May 12, 1948. They built a home in the burgeoning neighborhood of Gentilly Terrace, where they raised three sons and lived for 56 years until the flood following hurricane Katrina. Dominic ran the family's poultry business on Decatur Street in the French Quarter until 1969 when he joined his brother-in-law, Carl Joseph Sierra, at his company, P & S Diesel Service in Westwego, Louisiana where he worked until retirement in 1996. Dominic was a devout Catholic and long time member of the St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church. He was a loving husband, dedicated father and devoted grandfather, raising his children and grandchildren by example. He is survived by his sons Kerry Paul Camarata and his wife Cathy Pareti Camarata of St. Charles, Louisiana, Kit Charles Camarata of Prairieville, Louisiana and Kevin Michael Camarata and his wife Yolanda Marie Camarata of Houston, Texas; his grandchildren Cynthia Marie Camarata Kelly and her husband Albert Vance Kelly, Candace Marie Camarata, Kit Cecile Camarata, Christina Marie Camarata, Kevin Michael Camarata II and Kimberly Marie Camarata; his sister-in-law Gail Sierra Ford and her husband Joseph Louis Ford, Jr., his brother-in-law Don Michel Sierra and his wife Rita Sierra, his sister-in-law Josephine Vera Sierra and many friends. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, July 11th at 11:00am in St. Dominic's Catholic Church 775 Harrison Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70124. Rite of Committal for both Dominic Paul Camarata and his wife, Joyce Genara Sierra Camarata will immediately follow at St. Louis Cemetery #3 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America 386 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016.
Published in the Houston Chronicle on 6/14/2009