Clara E. Mazza Hayden ("Dolly"), 99, of Linden, NJ entered peacefully into eternal rest on June 20, 2024 surrounded by her loving family.

Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend the Funeral from the Leonard-Lee Funeral Home, 301 East Blancke Street, Linden, NJ at 9am on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The Funeral Mass will be offered in St. Elizabeth Church, Linden, at 10am. Entombment will follow in St. Gertrude Cemetery, Colonia.  Visiting hours are Monday, June 24, 2024 between 4pm and 8pm.

Clara was born to the late Dominick and Clotilda Serra Mazza in Elizabeth, NJ, where she attended Battin High School, married her teenage sweetheart at the age of 20 and had two sons. They moved to their new house in Linden in 1956 and five years later happily welcomed a long-awaited daughter. The consummate homemaker, Dolly's home became a warm and friendly gathering place for family, neighbors and friends. Her "doll" house was always filled with beautiful, sparkling knickknacks, delightful music, living plants, animated adults and children, tempting smells of Italian cooking and delicious meals or treats. Hundreds of photos of 68 years of celebrations and other events taken around Dolly's kitchen table attest to the fact that she cultivated a space and family to which others loved to gravitate. Welcoming hospitality was her hallmark and was extended to all, including new, treasured friends from the UK.

Dolly was a loving and devoted Wife, Mother, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother. Her adoring Husband of 77 years, the late James J. Hayden Sr., passed away in 2022. She was the beloved Mother of Gary Hayden, Donna Hayden and her spouse Kelly Cook, and the late James J. Hayden Jr. and his wife, her Daughter-in-Law, Anne Marie Derzock Hayden. She was the loving Grandmother of Cathleen Marie Rosen and her husband David as well as the late Kelly Anne Hayden. She also leaves behind her Great Grandchildren, Benjamin and Isabella Rosen. Clara was the youngest of six children and was like a little "dolly" to her sisters and brothers; hence, her lifelong nickname. She is pre-deceased by all of her dear siblings and their spouses: Clementine Einhorn, Angelina Felicio and her husband Joaquim, Salvatore Mazza and his wife Santa, Catherine Candelino and her husband Frank, Mary Bene and her husband Anthony J. and John Mazza. Also surviving her are numerous loving nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

In Lieu of flowers, donations in her memory to Center for Hope Hospice, 1900 Raritan Road, Scotch Plains, N.J. 07076, would be appreciated.