Gertrude Salvo

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 25, 2008

NATCHEZ – Mass of Resurrection for Gertrude Burke “Trudy” Salvo, 88, of Natchez, who died Monday, June 23, 2008, following a brief illness, will be at 11 a.m. today at St. Mary Basilica.
Burial will follow at Natchez City Cemetery under the direction of Laird Funeral Home.
Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until service time today the church.
Mrs. Salvo was born Jan. 26, 1920, in Natchez, the daughter of John Joseph and Margaret Mary Pellettieri Burke. She graduated from St. Joseph’s High School, later to be called Natchez Cathedral School. She enjoyed and excelled in creative writing, once winning a regional journalism contest sponsored by the New Orleans Times Picayune newspaper. She also was the captain of the St. Joseph Hilltoppers basketball team and helped compose the school spirit song for the Cathedral Green Wave.
During her life, Trudy was best known for her unconditional devotion to family and for her limitless love of life and friends. Her patience and her kind, gentle nature were only matched by her endearing wit and humility. Her many friends and neighbors recall that she never spoke a negative word, always choosing to see the good in everyone.
Mrs. Salvo was retired but had worked for many years as a bookkeeper for Miss-Lou Oil Producers. She enjoyed cooking, playing bridge, reading newspapers and attending the numerous events in which her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren participated.
Mrs. Salvo was preceded in death by her husband, Frederick Natale “Fritz” Salvo; two infant children, Ann Gerard Salvo and Richard Salvo; and one son, Donald Joseph Salvo; her parents; four brothers, Richard, Charles, John and Edmund Burke; and four sisters, Elizabeth B. Kilgarlen, Mary Rose B. Liberto, Margaret B. Butler and Bernadette Burke.
Survivors include four children, Fred N. Salvo and wife, Sandra, and Paul J. Salvo and wife, Roxanne, all of Jackson; daughters, Lou S. Jordan and husband, John, both of Madison, and Shelia S. Alwood and husband, Richard, both of Lake St. John; nine grandchildren, Jody and Kelli Foster, Lawrence, Cal, and Mary Margaret Alwood, April and Anna Salvo, Frederick Salvo and Allie Jordan; seven great-grandchildren, Hunter, Paige, Gracie and Molly Foster, Natalya and Olivia Salvo and Sela Alwood.
Memorials may be made to the Cathedral School Fund for Excellence, 701 Martin Luther King Dr., Natchez, MS 39120 or to a charity of choice.
Online condolences may be sent to www.lairdfh.com.