Anna Mary Ong of Southern Pines, N.C., passed away on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. She was 85.
Anna was born in Brooklyn in 1932 to the late Armino Arduino Completa and Lucy Completa, graduating from the Girls High School in Brooklyn in 1955.
She married Ricardo D. Ong, whom she met in Beekman Downtown Hospital in Manhattan in 1963. She and Ricardo moved to Blauvelt, N.Y., then West Milford, then Ringwood, where they raised a family of four children.
Anna and Ricardo then moved to northern Virginia, where they lived for 22 years near their first grandchildren. They recently moved to Southern Pines, N.C., to be closer to family and grandchildren in North Carolina.
Anna was a truly beloved wife, daughter, mother, sister, aunt and niece. She brightened every room she entered, and everyone was better for knowing her.
She is famous for several things: her dimples (telling anyone who would listen that she was called “dimples” on day one by the nurse who delivered her), being Italian (she has taught many an aspiring cook of Italian food how to make homemade pasta, meatballs and sauce the right way), for never drinking a drop of alcohol her entire life (with no regrets, resisting any temptation from wayward souls) and being the No. 1 Mets fan that ever lived. She also loved Englebert Humperdinck and could be caught dancing to his hits until the day she passed. There never has been nor will there ever be another individual like Anna.
Anna was preceded in death by her cherished mother, Lucy Completa Ragazzi; father, deceased as a far-too-young man, Armino Arduino Completa; stepfather, Fulvio Ragazzi; and brother Pasquale “Pat” Completa.
She is survived by ”her guy” and beloved husband of 59 years, Ricardo D. Ong; their four children, Anna O. Brice (husband, C. Edward Brice) of Scottsdale, Ariz., Ricardo C. Ong (wife, Katy Ong) of Southern Pines, N.C., Christina C.O. Zschoche (husband, Rob Zschoche) of Sterling, Va., and Gregory C. Ong (wife, Nicole Ong) of Old Bridge, and seven grandchildren, Jana (27), Ethan (23), Alex (21), Robby (21), Nicholas (20), Evelyn (19) and Isabella (16).
She will be laid to rest at Pinelawn Memorial Park on Sept. 2 at 11 a.m. There will be a Catholic service at St. Anthony in Southern Pines, N.C., at 9:30 a.m.
Online condolences may be made at pinesfunerals.com
Service arrangements have been entrusted to Powell Funeral Home.