Marie Riccitelli passed away on Dec. 20, 2023, while in hospice care at the age of 88. Born on the Feast of the Epiphany in 1935, the registrar incorrectly recorded Marie’s birth certificate as Jan. 7 since no official work was done on the holiday. Thus began Marie’s nine-decade life of polite compromise.

Raised in the Italian town of Gioia Sannitica (Caserta), Marie’s childhood memories as a cobbler’s daughter were under the historical hardships of poverty under Mussolini and the German occupation of Napoli during World War II. At the age of 19, after the death of her father, Marie booked passage on the S.S. Andrea Doria to cross the Atlantic and reside with relatives in New Haven. With only a fourth-grade education (as was common for Italian girls in the culture), Marie became fluent in English and managed her finances to support her widowed mother and youngest brother, Liberato.

Marie had strong hands, a steely work ethic, and independent resolve: all that was needed to build a stable life in America. Walking to her factory jobs was a driving motivation to purchase her first vehicle with hard-earned cash. Often clocking double shifts, Marie became a skilled upholstery seamstress, employed in many of New Haven’s notable textile manufacturing industries, including Seamless Rubber, Yale, Bradley Coat, Royal Lounge (for 30 years), and finishing her career at Al’s Upholstery in North Haven.

In 1959, she briefly returned to Italy to marry her former neighbor, Luigi “Gino” Riccitelli, and she arranged the paperwork for his legal immigration to the United States. Her much younger sisters-in-law wistfully reminisced that she “looked like Sophia Loren” when she walked down the aisle in her self-purchased wedding gown. Quiet by nature, Marie dressed impeccably in her professional years and had a beautiful, vibrant singing voice — favoring classic tunes from her native Italy. In 1972, Marie and Luigi moved with their two sons from New Haven to Branford and enjoyed the home they built on Brightwood Lane. With her mother, Marietta, Marie would cook lavish feasts for annual neighborhood parties and generously host holiday gatherings for her extended Riccitelli family. No one ever left Marie’s table hungry or without a bursting container of carry-out leftovers. “That’s all you ate? Eh, mangia! What am I gonna do with all this food?”

A longtime attendant of Saint Mary Parish, Marie was dedicated to raising her two sons in the Catholic tradition and ensured funds were saved to send her two boys to Notre Dame High School in West Haven and college at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Providence College. Watching the daily Mass on TV and keeping routine personal devotions were dignified testaments to Marie’s lifelong faith as she became more homebound in her later years. After retirement at the age of 75, Marie enjoyed peaceful days at home, eagerly poring over the daily New Haven Register to keep tabs on local news and, of course, critique the obituaries. Her family hopes she would approve of this one. (“It’s too long. Who’s gonna read all that?”) One secret Marie guarded; her birth name was actually “Adelia,” which means “noble, kind.” Her family believes she was aptly named, and although she was OK to compromise over her incorrect birthdate, she was adamant about shortening her official records to the name “Marie.”

Marie is predeceased by her parents, Giuseppe and Maria Santagata, and older brothers, Enrico, Bruno, and Gino. Marie is survived by her husband Luigi Gino Riccitelli; younger brother Liberato “Lee” (Barbara) Santagata; her two sons, Martino (Debbie) and Claudio (Barbara); as well as eight grandchildren: Gene, Nicholas (Theresa) and Christopher Riccitelli, Matthew and Christina Riccitelli, Sarah Devenitch (Tim Alfano) and Gabrielle (John) Veit; and four great-grandchildren: Julian and Jack Alfano, Charlie Veit and Luco Riccitelli. Marie has numerous nieces and nephews living in the USA and Italy.

Calling hours were on Dec. 23 at W.S. Clancy Memorial Funeral Home, 244 North Main Street, Branford, followed by a Mass of Christian burial at Saint Bernadette Church, 385 Townsend Avenue, New Haven, with Interment following at Saint Agnes Cemetery, Branford.