Obituary of Rosella Marasciullo

Rosella Devine Marasciullo, June 9, 1937 – June 4, 2020 Rosella Marasciullo was a remarkable woman who lived the American dream and left us with fond memories of a life well-lived. She was born in Peakes, Prince Edward Island, Canada, the seventh of John and Loretta Devine’s eight children. She started school at 3 years old, when she climbed over the fence, and told the teacher she had permission to join her older siblings in school. She started college at the age of 14 and at 18 years old, she became the first woman and the youngest person to graduate from St. Dunstan’s University, now part of University of Prince Edward Island. She was offered the opportunity to go to graduate school in Ottawa for social work, if she agreed to moved to New York and work with Catholic Charities. She accepted that challenge, and at 20, with a Masters Degree in Social Work, she moved to New York, where she met David Marasciullo. They married in 1962 and lived in Greenwich Village until they moved to Long Island in 1968. Rosella was a devoted wife to David for more than 50 years, and a loving mother to her three children Paul, Janene, and Mark. She was smart, funny, kind, creative, gracious and insightful and she gave her children the confidence to be independent thinkers and to live their lives fully. She was also dedicated to helping others. As a social worker, she helped hundreds of teenage boys and girls navigate difficult family situations when she worked at Catholic Charities, Lincoln Hall and Madonna Heights. She was also beloved by her siblings and her husband’s siblings, dozens of nieces and nephews, and friends, who benefited from her kindness and her remarkable ability to listen to everyone like they were the most important person in the world. She is survived by her children and their spouses, Paul and Melissa Marasciullo of Laurel Hollow, NY, Janene Marasciullo and Paul Lundin, of Scarsdale, NY, and Mark and Anne Marasciullo, of New Canaan, Ct, and her grandchildren, Joseph, David and Katherine Marasciullo of Laurel Hollow, NY and Charlotte and Daisy Marasciullo, of New Canaan, CT, and her sister, Geraldine McKenna, of Charlottetown, PEI and Gerard Devine, of Cardigan, PEI, as well as dozens of nieces and nephews living across the United States and Canada.