Obituary of Renee Rina Serveiss

Renee Serveiss, a resident of Lake Anne Fellowship House for 24 years, passed away on December 30, 2016. There will be a memorial service at St. Thomas a Becket Church in Reston on Thursday, January 5th at 10:30AM. 1421 Wiehle Avenue, Reston VA. 20190 Renee (Renata) Serveiss, 94, a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother passed away from breast cancer on Friday, December 30. While at Lake Anne Fellowship House she was involved in the Craft club and many other activities. She made many dear friends in the building and as a result wanted to live till the very end in her apartment. Renee’s priority in life was taking care of her husband Robert, who passed away in May. Her second priority was helping her son Victor, her daughter-in-law Betsy, and her granddaughter’s, Kelsey, Alyssa, and Emily. When she was not doing things for her family she was helping her friends in the building. Renee was a very talented cook and made wonderful meals for her family and frequently made extra food for friends and people in the building. Over 50 years ago, Renee worked in the dress shop of the famous designer Oleg Cassini. Mr. Cassini asked Renee to sew for some very famous people including Jacqueline Kennedy, who appreciated her work and took her to lunch twice. Like many women of her day, Renee did not pursue a full-time career so she could focus on her family but Renee worked part-time as a seamstress for many years. Renata Rossi was born on a farm in Italy. German Army units occupied her family's farm during World War II and for several months spent a lot of time living in a dug out bomb shelter. She moved to New York City and was married to Robert Serveiss for 63 years. Renee will be joining Robert, a World War II veteran, at 10 AM on Friday, March 3, 2017 at Arlington Cemetery.