Obituary of Maddalena De Carlo

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our mother Maddalena De Carlo on November 7^th 2021, in her 98^th year, with her family at her side. Maddalena (Lenucia) was born January 18^th, 1923 in Bitritto, Bari Italy.  She is predeceased by her parents Maria Michele Pastorelli and Michele De Michino and her siblings Raffaele, Graziella, Stefano and Biagio. Maddalena married Eugenio De Carlo in 1946 and they lived in Bitritto. They had their first daughter Carmela, who passed away as an infant.   They were further blessed with Francesco (Frank) in 1949 and Michele (Michael) in 1951.

On June 13^th 1953, Maddalena and her two sons left Italy for Canada aboard the immigrant ship “The Vulcania”.  After 3 weeks at sea they arrived at Pier 21 in Halifax. From Halifax Maddalena and her sons travelled by train to Toronto where she was reunited with her husband. Maddalena and her family settled in Toronto and were blessed with 3 more children, Carmela in 1954, Maria in 1957, and Anthony (Tony) in 1958. Maddalena and her husband worked very hard and after a few moves settled in North York to raise their family. In 1983 they moved to Oshawa to enjoy their retirement.  They were married for 50 years before Eugenio passed away in 1996.

Maddalena loved her gardens, “flowers in the front yard and vegetables in the back yard”.  She enjoyed going to the gym and spending time with her grandchildren.  Maddalena was a fitness enthusiast. Bench pressing 90lbs in her 90’s was “easy” she would say.  She loved the YMCA in Oshawa, where she made many lasting friendships.

Her joy was having her grandchildren around her. She loved feeding them and watching them grow up. Maddalena welcomed all of her 9 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren as they arrived. Maddalena will be missed by her children, Frank, Mike and his wife Suzanne, Carmela and her husband John, Maria and her significant other Warren, and Tony and his wife Kathy. “Mama” as she was loving known will be deeply missed by her grandchildren Jason (Kadi), Jessica (Jason), Eugene, Nicole (Nick), Sarah, Eryn, Ben (April), Stephanie (Jeff), and Adam (Carlee), and by her great grandchildren Lawrence, Malik, Adriano, Leonardo, Brayden, Avery, Klara, Ethan, Madison, Brycen, Blakelee, Benton, Keaton, and Breanna.

Maddalena will be deeply missed by her many nieces, nephews, and cousins in Toronto, Italy, Texas, Nevada, and California and by her sister-in-law Angelina in Italy.  She will also be missed by many dear friends and by all who had the pleasure of meeting her. Maddalena was a member of St. Mary of the People Parish and a long standing member of the Colonia Bitrittese Maria S.S. di Costantinopoli of Ontario.

Donations in lieu of flowers to The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

Maddalena lived a full and beautiful life and we are so grateful for the time we had with her.

Visitation will be held at the DeStefano Funeral Home, 1289 Keith Ross Drive, Oshawa (south side of Taunton Road, east of Thornton Road by the Oshawa Airport), (905) 440 3595 on Friday November 12th  from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.  A  private Funeral Mass wil be held at St. Mary of the People Parish in Oshawa on Saturday November 13th at 11:00 a.m.  Entombment will follow at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery, Whitby.

For those that are unable to attend the Visitation, Please click HERE to be taken to the LiveStream