Lucia              Caleca

Lucia Caleca, 88, of Newtown, formerly of Arizona and New Mexico, died on March 17, at Ashlar of Newtown. She was the mother of Margaret Lucia Gross of Newtown.

Lucia Caleca was born in Colchester, N.Y., on August 25, 1916, the daughter of the late John Wesley Van De Bogart and Adelia Gumaer Strong.

Her ancestry dates back to 1640 with Dr Harmen Myndertsen Van De Bogart from Holland or France. He resided in Schenectady, N.Y., and he later, with Robert Sanders, purchased a patent of 12,000 acres of land known as “Minniskink” which included the present site of the City of Poughkeepsie.

Lucia received her high school diploma from The Susan Fenimore Cooper Foundation in Cooperstown, N.Y. She attended St Christina, a private boarding school taught by Episcopal nuns from Canada. Angelica Livingston Gerry was her benefactress. Ms Gerry was known for her interest in the excellence of higher education for women along with Eleanor Roosevelt.

Lucia was selected to receive this education on the strength of her scholastic abilities. She performed the lead in many plays while at school and sang with the local band. She was valedictorian of her class and received four of the six awards given out at her graduation.

She went on to complete two more years of study from the University of the State of New York, which qualified her to teach in her local elementary school in Downsville, N.Y., until she married her first husband, Andrew Thomas Jepsen of Cooperstown.

Lucia was one of few students to receive a 99+ on her chemistry exam given by the Regents of the University of the State of New York.

One of her passions was poetry. She never published, but wrote extensively for her family and friends. This passion for creativity was instilled in her children as she feared their mainstream public education would leave them without the ability to think and create on their own. Many rainy days her children would sit around the kitchen and write poetry as other children would be playing monopoly.

Lucia was predeceased by her daughter, Sally Ann Jepsen. She was also predeceased by her second husband, Peter Nosenzo, and her third husband, Santos Caleca.

In addition to her daughter, she was survived by her son, Thomas Edward Jepsen of New Mexico; her grandchildren, Michael Andrew Jepsen and his wife Stephanie of Hudson, N.Y., Charles E. Zimmer, Jr (Jepsen) and his wife Maureen of San Mateo, Calif., and Jason Jepsen and Amanda Jepson, both of New Mexico; and great-grandchildren Hannah Elizabeth Jepsen, Cortlynn Lucia Jepsen, Kathryn Rose Jepsen, Abigail Ruth Jepsen, Jake Carleton Zimmer, and Charlotte Theresa Zimmer.

A memorial service will be held at the convenience of the family.

The Newtown Bee        March 25, 2005