Maria Scodeller (nee Pompeo) passed away peacefully after a brief illness surrounded by family on Friday August 2,2019. She was 88 years old.

Maria was born in the village of Gesualdo in Avellino, near the city of Naples on November 29, 1930, the third of six siblings. She was the first in the family to leave the village in search of a better life. In 1958, she ventured alone and made the courageous two week voyage by sea across the Atlantic at the invite of her maternal aunt in Toronto.

She would eventually call and sponsor three of her siblings to help them to build a better life for themselves in Canada. They settled in Toronto as well, the three sisters living near each other for decades, raising their families together.

She worked at a number of jobs in Canada to support herself, including in a hospital and a dry cleaning company.

She met and then married her husband Battista on May 19, 1962 and together they raised their two children John and Claudia. They built their lives in the St. Clair West community which at the time was a bustling centre for many like-minded Italians who were looking to build a better life while recreating the ties, traditions and memories left behind in their beloved Italy.

Maria was a talented cook and loved to have her family around to share meals and feed them. She continued to cook for her grandson, and he still misses the gnocchi only she knew how to make so well.

She was a devoted wife and mother; when her husband Battista fell ill, she stopped working so that she could take care of him. She continued to care for him for 25 years and was his outspoken advocate until the end. Throughout this time, she continued to raise her family, protecting them and looking out for them until the day she died.

She is predeceased by her husband Battista, her parents (Elisa Nitti and Vincenzo Pompeo), her brother Giuseppe and her sister Concetta.

She is survived by her son John (Elvira), daughter Claudia (Lucio), her grandson Matthew, her sister Adua (the late Pietro), her sister Immacolata (Antonio), her sister Carmellina (Fiore) and her many cousins, nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Maria's memory to the Canadian Diabetes Association and the Heart and Stroke Foundation