Elizabeth Veglia

Elizabeth Cecile Berault Veglia, age 90, of Long Beach, Mississippi, died Tuesday, December 9, 2008. She was a member of St Thomas Catholic Church.
Cecile was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on July 19, 1918. She attended Lakeview School and St Dominic School, graduated from McMain High School in 1936, then completed Soule' Business College. She was active in the Girl Scouts for many years.
She worked as a secretary to the chief engineer of Higgins Industries, which made the landing craft that Eisenhower said won WWII.
She loved Long Beach where she spent many summers as a child and later as an adult, finally permanently making it home with her husband and children in 1957. She was active in the Mother's Club at St Thomas Elementary School where she participated in the formation of the first Long Beach Mardi Gras parade. She worked as a secretary at the Mississippi Test Facility (NASA/Stennis) during its formative years and later as a recording clerk in the Harrison County Chancery Clerk's Office under both CJ Darby and Nicky Creel until she retired in 1980.
She was an expert seamstress and took on woodworking in her later years. There was nothing that she could not make pretty, fix, or make work. She was always able to create something wonderful out of almost nothing, and was equally comfortable with a sewing machine as with a chain saw. She had a lively sense of humor, loved puns and word plays, and was a stickler for proper use of the English language. She loved to travel, and visited 23 countries.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ambrose Joachim Veglia; her parents, Edwin James and Mary Victoria Hiern Berault de Saint Maurice; two sons, Michael Louis Veglia and AJ Veglia, Jr; and a sister, Maris Stella Berault Mercier.
She is survived by her eight children, Gayle A Gagliano of New Orleans; Vicky E (Randy) Looney of Waveland; Elizabeth C Veglia (Billy) of Kiln; Maris S (Andy) Loup of Long Beach; Gary A (Jacque) Veglia of Diamondhead; Susan M Veglia (Tom) of Bay St Louis; Mary L Mobley of Long Beach; and Cecile J (Everett) Lewis of Saucier; 17 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren; her sisters, Emma Mittelstaedt of New Orleans; Juanita Lewis of Mobile; and Edvige Davis of Ormond Beach, Florida; a sister-in-law, Gloria Veglia Stieffel of Trussville, Alabama; and numerous nieces and nephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 12 Noon, Saturday, December 13, at St. Thomas Catholic Church, 5557 Daugherty Road, Long Beach, Mississippi 39560, where friends may visit 1 hour prior to the service.
Interment will be in Long Beach City Cemetery.
The RIEMANN FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, Long Beach, is in charge of arrangements and an online guestbook may be signed at www.riemannfamily.com