Maria Lauro nee Marinelli was born in Mola di Bari on May 1, 1925, the eldest of six children. God has reunited her with her husband, Vito Giuseppe (Peppino), her granddaughter Emma, her siblings Marino, Crescenza (Zenzella), Francesco (Frankie), and Loretta (Rita).
Peppino came to Canada alone in 1952 he grew tired of the single life. He wrote to his mother and asked if Maria was still available. Both his mother and her mother conspired and succeeded in having their children married. Maria and Peppino were married by proxy, Peppino was married at St. Patrick’s Church on McCall Street and Maria in Mola in her home parish on March 28, 1954. They met for the first time at Toronto’s Union Station on July 7, 1954. Maria would have told you that the first 10 years were the hardest coming to a new country and being married to someone who she barely knew, but their marriage survived, and they celebrated 54 years of marriage.
Maria was a social butterfly and a master of call-waiting. She loved cooking and trying new recipes. Anyone who visited her was fed and they complimented her on her meals and awesome baked goods and focaccia.
She will be missed by her three children, Francesca “Franca”, Gaetano “Nino” (Heather), and Giovanna “Joanne” (Mario DeAcetis). Nonna to Marley, Susanne, Daniel, and Marco. She will be missed by her brother Antonio (Giovanna), brother-in-law Giuseppe Susanna, and her sisters-in-law Rosa Lauro, Carmela Marinelli, and her many nieces and nephews in Ottawa, Toronto, Venezuela, Italy, and Germany.
Maria lived to be 99 years and 7 months most of the people she nurtured, loved, and cared for had already passed, but she knew they would be there to greet her on December 14, 2024. For those of us who remain and whose lives she impacted Maria will be waiting to greet us when it is our time.
Many thanks to Zella Liotine for her nightly conversations and Zella’s husband Vito for his green thumb and his help in Maria’s Garden.
If desired, the family have requested donations in Memory of Maria Lauro be made to Autism Ontario.
