JOYCE GENARA SIERRA CAMARATA, age 79, died on Thursday, June 11, 2009 after a long battle with kidney failure. She is preceded in death by her loving husband of 57 years, Dominic Paul Camarata who died on September 15, 2005, her brothers Austin Viadero Sierra, Jr. and Carl Joseph Sierra. Joyce was born to Austin Viadero Sierra and Alma Elizabeth Pons on June 22, 1929 in New Orleans, Louisiana. She graduated from St. Joseph Academy and attended Loyola University. She married a handsome young Tulane student, Dominic Paul Camarata, recently returned from World War II service in the Navy. 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. Joyce was a devoted wife and loving mother who was active in her children's and grandchildren's lives; encouraging them to play sports, further their education and pursue their dreams. She is survived by her sons Kerry Paul Camarata and his wife Cathy Pareti Camarata of Destrehan, Louisiana, Kit Charles Camarata of Prairieville, Louisiana and Kevin Michael Camarata and his wife Yolanda Marie Camarata of Houston, Texas; her 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; her sister Gail Sierra Ford and her husband Joseph Louis Ford, Jr., her brother Don Michel Sierra and his wife Rita Sierra, her sister-in-law 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 Joyce Genara Camarata and her husband, Dominic Paul 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 South, New York, NY 10016.
Published in the Houston Chronicle on 6/14/2009