Mary Frances DePaolo

Diana, Please accept our most heartfelt sympathies for your loss…you and your family are in our thoughts. From: City of Biddeford

– Tribute Store

My heartfelt condolences to all of you.I have fond memories of Mary, especially at Hamlin School. Tether Ball and Four Squares.. she was the best!

– Donna M Piscopo

We pray the love of God enfolds you during your journey through grief.

– Tribute Store

Randy,Cathy,and families, So sorry for your loss. Thoughts and prayers are with you.

– Richard Libby

Eulogy for mom, On behalf of my family I want to welcome everyone here and saying how grateful we are for all of you being here today to honor my mother life. I also want to say how thankful I am for the people who were by her side the last year of her life while she struggled with her fight against cancer. Especially my dad and my sister who worked tirelessly the last few weeks, caring for my mother and honoring her wish to be in the comfort her home during her last days. And I want to say thank you to my aunt Catherine, who has always been like a second mother to me and who was also there by my mother’s side up to her last breath and has been an incredible source of support for me the last few days. I don’t know how you can summarize or speak to an entire life. There are so many intricacies. People are dynamic and their relationship with the world is infinitely complex. My mom was a unique human who was more than any of us can fully comprehend or speak to. So today I’m going to speak anbout a few things that I will always remember about my mom. When I think about my mom I think about how strong and determined she was. She never let anyone tell her what to do and she taught me to be strong and to always stand up for myself. When I was 3 or 4 years old I was fooling around in the kitchen and I knocked out my two front teeth. These were baby teeth but in order for my adut teeth to come in straight I needed caps, only thing was my parents didn’t get me white caps they got me bright silver caps. This was fine until I entered school and you know how cruel children could be. My bright silver front teeth made me an instant target for bullies. One day I remember telling my mom how kids would make fun of me. My mom told me to never let anyone pick on me, that if someone said something not nice to me I was allowed to say something not nice right back and if anyone ever laid a hand on my I was allowed to fight back. But always fight back harder she told me. A few days later a kid who had been picking on me made the mistake of grabbing my foot while I was on the swings. As soon as he touched my ankle my mom’s words echoed in my ear and I found myself flying through leaping off of the swing knocking the bully down and letting my teeth sink into the back of his head. No one ever made fun of me or my teeth again. This lesson is one of the most important and fundamental things my mother imparted on me and has made me who I am today. My mom fought her whole life, my mom was strong. She fought up until her dying breath. Whether it be standing up for others, for myself, or going after the impossible, I never back down. I am not afraid to fight, I am not afraid to be strong. I am a fighter, like my mom. One thing I have found incredible about my mom was her capacity to love. My mom and dad met in high school and somehow against the odds their relationship has lasted for 43 years. What always amazed me was despite their disagreements and no matter how bad they may have fought, they always made up and they always moved on. There was no harboring of resentments or animosity. During these last few days I witnessed a couple who would do anything for each other and a love that was very deep. I saw how my mom would look at my dad while he brushed her hair from her forehead or kissed her cheek as she lay in the hospital bed in our living room. It made me remember back to when my mom would visit me in Chicago or LA and how after just a few days she would be so homesick, only it wasn’t home that she was missing it was that she loved my dad so much that she couldn’t be away from him. In their 43 years of marriage they had never been apart for more that 6 or 7 days. An incredible testament to their love. I was with my mom in the final days and minutes before her death and it was an experience that has forever changed me. So I’d like to share a few thoughts on death and how we can all move forward. No one wants to die. But the truth is our time here is limited. We need to face our own mortality, because only then can we focus on what really matters. Knowing that our time here is fleeting we should be able to get past the petty frustrations of daily life, and instead live the story that brings us immense joy and fulfillment. My mom’s story was a simple one; she got married, she raised her family, and she built a home. And she lived a full life. I am choosing to celebrate my mom’s life by being strong, embracing love and living authentically. For the last 20 years my mom and I talked almost every day on the phone. Sometimes we would talk for just minutes other tomes for hours. The distance that was between us would fade away durin these conversations. Over the last year these phone calls became less frequent as the cancer and the chemotherapy took its toll on my mother. I remember our last phone call before I came out this last trip, My mother sounded in good spirits asnd The last thing my mom said to me was, “love you and see you soon.” I love you too mom. I will make you proud Love RW

– William DePaolo

So sorry for your loss. My heart goes out to you and your family.

– Sarah Hulbert