Maya Angelou said “...some people are going to leave us, but that’s not end of your story. That’s the end of their part of your story.” On July 18, Maria Payne’s part in the story of her family and friends ended when she passed away peacefully in her home in Old Saybrook after a long illness. She was 85.
She was born Feb. 18, 1930, in Catania, Sicily, to Giacomo and Salvatrice Tuttobene Maraviglia. One of seven surviving children, she grew up during World War II, where she was injured during one of many bombings to the island. Despite sustaining multiple shrapnel injuries, including one that caused her to lose her left eye, she made a full recovery and moved to Berlin, Germany, where she worked at the Italian Consulate as personal assistant and interpreter for the Chancellor of Italy.
She traveled extensively throughout Europe while in the employ of the Consulate, but it was in Berlin where she met her future husband Arthur “Bud” Payne, a staff sergeant in the US Army during the post WWII occupation of Berlin. Even though Bud spoke only English while Maria spoke four languages, none of them English, they managed to communicate, fall in love, and marry on Aug. 12, 1953, in Berlin. A few weeks before her husband was discharged and returned to the US, they welcomed their first child Thomas.
A few months later, Maria and her son emigrated to America and the family settled in Meriden, her husband’s hometown. He went on to become a teacher at Southington High School and several years later, the family welcomed their second child, a daughter named Elena. Maria loved music, especially opera and her favorites by Puccini, but more than anything, her family was always the thing she was proudest of and loved more than anything. In 1977, the Payne family were very proud and excited to hear that Thom was getting married and they welcomed Elsa DeNovellis of Hartford to the family. In 1985, both families relocated to Old Saybrook and the common tradition of her childhood of having multiple generations of family living under the same roof came full circle.
Maria had experienced both great joy and great loss throughout her life. She was thrilled when in 1984 her first of three grandchildren was born to Thom and Elsa, a daughter they named Melanie Margaret. In 1986, the family welcomed Matthew Thomas, and in 1990, Donovan Arthur Payne. There was nothing she could possibly have that brought her more pride and incredible happiness than the children she raised and watching her grandchildren grow up and turn into the adults that continue to love her even after her death.
Maria was predeceased by her parents; her sister Elena, who was just 23 when she died from complications from rheumatic fever; as well as her brothers Pippo, Geno, Paolo, and Dante, all of whom remained in Europe raising families of their own. Maria had numerous nieces and nephews as well as grandnieces and grandnephews, all of whom mourn her loss. The painful loss of her parents and siblings, however, was not the greatest loss of her life.
In 1979, she lost her husband after a sudden stroke at the age of 51. He was the chairman of the English department at Southington High School as well as a dedicated teacher, starting the first high school curriculum that offered classes in logic and philosophy shortly before his death. His love and dedication to teaching and education was passed down to his son Thom, who was a dedicated teacher at North Haven High School in the science and math departments, teaching physics and chemistry, along with starting an astronomy club; he had had a love for astronomy since his childhood, when both father and son would gaze at the sky above learning the constellations and dream of what else was beyond what could be seen in their telescopes. In 2009, Maria experienced her greatest loss when her son Thom died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 54.
On July 24, Maria was laid to rest next to her husband Art at Walnut Grove Cemetery in Meriden. She is survived by her daughter Elena, who was at her bedside when she passed. She also is survived by her daughter-in-law Elsa, also of Old Saybrook, and her grandchildren Melanie Payne and her fiancé Andy Helgesson, who live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Matthew Payne and Maria’s favorite four-legged companion, his dog Ellie, both of Old Saybrook, and Donovan Payne of Albuquerque, New Mexico. She’s also survived by Elsa’s sister Olga Raimondi, her daughters Alicia and Sierra Raimondi, and their father Michael; and Elsa’s brother Bruno, his wife Michelle, and their two sons Reno and Nico. Their mother Elda, also from Italy, and Maria were very close and along with being very proud “nonne,” they spent many family holidays and get-togethers sharing memories of their homeland.
Maria’s family would like to give special thanks to the Middlesex Hospital Hospice and Palliative Care Department, specifically Karen Tedeschi, RN, Jen Rogers, RN, George Grady, LCSW, Amber Borges, LCSW, Kathy Jeager, and Laura Anderson, LMT, all of whom were part of her care team. We’d especially like to thank Saker Odedra, her home health aide, and Sue Sulcas, one of the department’s volunteers, who spent many afternoons with Maria during her illness.
In her memory, any donations may be made to either Middlesex Hospital, Hospice and Palliative Care Department, 55 Crescent St., Middletown, CT 06457, or to the Rainforest Alliance, 233 Broadway, 28th Fl., New York, NY 10279. For an online obituary, please visit www.rainforest-alliance.org.
