Mary (Sionne) DeAngelis

Mary DeAngelis of Cranston, widow of Anthony V. DeAngelis, passed away at 7:26 a.m. on Saturday, November 18, 2023. Mary was a fantastic mother, business owner (hairdressing), and even a teacher (at Arthur Angelo’s School of Cosmetology).  Born in Cranston as Mary Sionne, she would meet her childhood sweetheart in her late teen years - Anthony DeAngelis, a veteran of World War II – and go on to marry him as soon as he was honorably discharged from service.  Anthony and Mary were married for sixty years before his passing in 2009. Together they raised one child, a son, David DeAngelis, 60, also of Cranston, whom she lived with until her passing.

Mary was an incredibly strong woman who seemed to be invincible to anything life threw at her. In her forties, she overcame breast cancer, and for the last two decades, has battled severe back pain (she fell two stories as a child and that affected her severely in later years) and constant stomach pain, yet just kept powering through life. When Mary had to give up driving, friends and family jumped in to make sure she still was able to do her favorite things to remain active.

When Mary was able to attend church, she attended St. Mary’s Church in Cranston after St. Ann’s closed.  As her mobility quickly declined over the past ten years, she looked for things to enjoy at home. When she found paying attention to plots of TV shows too difficult, she turned to magazines. When she couldn’t see to read as well, she would play board games with her in-home companions and son. When that became too difficult, she and her son would make ice cream after dinner be the “enjoyment to look forward” to at the end of every day.

This was Mary. When one door closed to prevent her from achieving her goals, she would persist and persist until she found another. She was a strong, supportive wife and mother to her family, and a strong and supportive friend to all who knew her.

Mom struggled with the normal effects of aging, and never so strongly as throughout 2023, but just seven weeks shy of her 98th birthday, age finally won. But I am sure that the day after her passing, no longer having pain and the physical world to deal with, she immediately set to work to enjoy the next world and to re-join my dad once again.

Her funeral will be held on Monday, November 27th at 10 a.m. from the NARDOLILLO FUNERAL HOME & Crematory, 1278 Park Ave., Cranston, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Mary’s Church, 1525 Cranston St., Cranston at 11 a.m.  Burial will be at St. Ann Cemetery, Cranston. VISITING HOURS are MONDAY MORNING from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.