1922
Mary
2020
Mary Napolitano
January 3, 1922 — December 14, 2020
BATH — Mary Ann Napolitano, the matriarch of the Napolitano family, died peacefully Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, at her home in Bath, just weeks shy of her 99th birthday.
Known affectionately as “Mimi,” she was born Mary Ann Porcase, Jan. 3, 1922, the third child, and only daughter, of Joseph, a Sicilian immigrant, and Angela. She had three brothers, Victor, Frederick and Anthony. She graduated from East High School in Youngstown in 1940. In her senior yearbook, Mimi was remembered as “vivacious, attractive and peppy.”
She married the love of her life, John Joseph Napolitano (known by the family as “Papa”), Oct. 2, 1942 at the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Youngstown. During the Second World War, while Papa was overseas, Mimi worked stateside at The Hershey Company in Hershey, Pa., where she helped to produce rations for service members. In the years after the war, Mary and John lived in Washington, D.C., where Mary worked as a clerk and John as a civil servant. She remembered those years as “some of the best.”
In the early 1950s, the Napolitanos moved to Austintown, where they began their life’s most important work in earnest: building a family. In the house that Papa built, Mimi had six beautiful children: Stephen, Joseph, John Jr., Rosalyn, MaryAnn and James. The kids would go on to bless them with 12 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and three more “quandies,” who the family is anxiously anticipating the arrival of, but who nonetheless felt Mimi’s warmth and love.
In 2012, two years after John died, Mimi moved in with her daughter, MaryAnn in Bath, to be near to more of her children. She kept up a robust social calendar, having taken up crocheting and knitting. Mimi filled her weeks attending the Knitting Ministry at St. Hilary Parish and knitting with the nuns of Our Lady of the Elms, where she crafted blankets for the elderly, the homeless, and sick children. She was a regular at the Richfield Senior Center, where she met friends for lunch, chair exercises and bingo.
Mimi passed peacefully at her home, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. In death, she is reunited with John, her husband of 66 years. She leaves behind Dr. Stephen (Carole) of Leesburg, Va.; Joseph (Peggy) and John Jr. (Julie) of Gloucester, Mass., Rosalyn (Andrew) of Boardman, and MaryAnn and James (Joanne) of Bath.
In her heyday, Mimi was known for cooking up a storm and making sure everyone had more than enough to eat. In her memory, and in lieu of flowers, donations to your local food bank are encouraged during this holiday season.
Professional arrangements are by the Higgins-Reardon Funeral Homes, Austintown Chapel. Visit www.higgins-reardon.com to send messages of condolence to the family.
Known affectionately as “Mimi,” she was born Mary Ann Porcase, Jan. 3, 1922, the third child, and only daughter, of Joseph, a Sicilian immigrant, and Angela. She had three brothers, Victor, Frederick and Anthony. She graduated from East High School in Youngstown in 1940. In her senior yearbook, Mimi was remembered as “vivacious, attractive and peppy.”
She married the love of her life, John Joseph Napolitano (known by the family as “Papa”), Oct. 2, 1942 at the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Youngstown. During the Second World War, while Papa was overseas, Mimi worked stateside at The Hershey Company in Hershey, Pa., where she helped to produce rations for service members. In the years after the war, Mary and John lived in Washington, D.C., where Mary worked as a clerk and John as a civil servant. She remembered those years as “some of the best.”
In the early 1950s, the Napolitanos moved to Austintown, where they began their life’s most important work in earnest: building a family. In the house that Papa built, Mimi had six beautiful children: Stephen, Joseph, John Jr., Rosalyn, MaryAnn and James. The kids would go on to bless them with 12 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and three more “quandies,” who the family is anxiously anticipating the arrival of, but who nonetheless felt Mimi’s warmth and love.
In 2012, two years after John died, Mimi moved in with her daughter, MaryAnn in Bath, to be near to more of her children. She kept up a robust social calendar, having taken up crocheting and knitting. Mimi filled her weeks attending the Knitting Ministry at St. Hilary Parish and knitting with the nuns of Our Lady of the Elms, where she crafted blankets for the elderly, the homeless, and sick children. She was a regular at the Richfield Senior Center, where she met friends for lunch, chair exercises and bingo.
Mimi passed peacefully at her home, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. In death, she is reunited with John, her husband of 66 years. She leaves behind Dr. Stephen (Carole) of Leesburg, Va.; Joseph (Peggy) and John Jr. (Julie) of Gloucester, Mass., Rosalyn (Andrew) of Boardman, and MaryAnn and James (Joanne) of Bath.
In her heyday, Mimi was known for cooking up a storm and making sure everyone had more than enough to eat. In her memory, and in lieu of flowers, donations to your local food bank are encouraged during this holiday season.
Professional arrangements are by the Higgins-Reardon Funeral Homes, Austintown Chapel. Visit www.higgins-reardon.com to send messages of condolence to the family.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Mary Napolitano, please visit our flower store.
Service Schedule
Past Services
Guestbook
Visits: 18
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors