Branka Tassera passed away peacefully at home with her two daughters by her side on Friday, January 19, 2024.
Branka was born in Niš, Serbia to her parents, Branka and Zora Aničić. She grew up in Croatia (part of former Yugoslavia). She attended the University of Zadar in Croatia, and earned herself a degree in English and Russian literature and languages. When she graduated, she spent a year abroad in London, England, and worked as an au pair, while immersing herself in the English language and culture. While in London, at the Imperial Ballroom, she met a handsome Italian chef, who later became her husband and father to her two daughters. She began her married life in Milano, Italy for three years until an opportunity arose for her husband to work in San Francisco to allow him to bring his culinary talents to the United States. They moved to several cities around the country, including Dallas, Florida, Louisiana and Tennessee until they returned to Italy in the early 1980s to open up a hotel/restaurant/banquet center with her brother-in-law. After two years, they returned to the United States to open up their own Italian restaurant in Creve Coeur, Missouri. In the early 1990s, she returned to school and earned her BSN at St. Louis University’s accelerated nursing program. She was a dedicated nurse in the mental health field until she retired.
She was most proud of her family and her gardening/flowers. Her children and grandchildren were the light of her life. Branka is proceeded in death by her parents and sister, Dinka and her ex-husband Renato. She is survived by her daughters Linda (Robert) and Elena (Chad); her four granddaughters, Daniella, Sophia, Juliette, and Julianna as well as her niece Ivana in Serbia.
Services: Visitation at Kutis South County Chapel, 5255 Lemay Ferry Road, on Saturday, January 27, from 12:30 pm until time of service at 1:00 pm.
From your italian family, all our kind thoughts in thoses sad days. Love to you Dear Linda , Robert and dear Elena , Chad and all daughters . Uncle Mario , Anny, Patrice, Annalisa, Nicolò, Mattia, Riccardo and. Michel, Caterina, Edoardo and Filippo .