Odell ‘Del’ M. Caruso was born Arlette Odell Marrs on September 7, 1927 in Charlottesville, VA to parents William ‘Allen’ and Lilla Leake Marrs.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 43 years, Philip J. Caruso Jr., 5 brothers, Alvin, Graham, Nelson, Ronnie and Steven Marrs and 3 sisters, Iris Coiner, Joyce Lenssen and Sue Baker.

She is survived by her son, Philip J. (Julia) Caruso, III and 4 daughters, Denise Black, Dianne (Garry) Garrison, Michelle Caruso and Amy (Les) Houston. She has 12 grandchildren, Skye (Richard) Hartmann, Vincent (Jennifer) Presta, Jamelee Black, Heidi (Adrian) Darter, Garry (Amber) Garrison, Glenn (Leslie) Garrison, Sebastian Lopez, Brittany Caruso, Jacob Caruso, Caleb (Kelly) Fields, Joshua Houston, Abigail Houston and many great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Del worked as a Realtor in Mission Viejo, CA and as a Pharmacy Technician. She was an avid artist and loved to paint. Del attended art school in Montreal, Canada and found art history to be as rewarding as her painting classes. Del began painting with oils but her specialty eventually changed to floral and landscape watercolors.

She was a loving wife, mother and grandmother. She will be missed by all who knew and loved her.

Her children request, in lieu of flowers, please donate in her honor to Catholic Charities or The City of Hope where she spent many volunteer hours on fund raisers.