Marcella Azzolini

1936 - 2017

Mrs. Marcella Azzolini (nee Cendou) age 81, passed away peacefully on Thursday, October 5, 2017 at St. Joseph's Hospice. Her final days were spent at home with her children and close family friends which gave her much comfort. Marcella was born on April 21, 1936 in Masseris, a small village in the Province of Udine, Italy. At age thirteen, she met the love of her life, Antonio Azzolini, and after working as a nanny for a few years in Florence and Milan, she followed her love to Canada and was married in Thunder Bay on February 26, 1959.

Besides raising her four children, Marcella was very proud of her time in the workforce; most notably, when she led the sales team at Sunset Memorial where she enjoyed talking with people and making them feel at ease about end-of-life planning. In her spare time, she loved gardening (she could bring anything to life!), knitting, and "watching her favourite stories" with her beloved dog Chanel by her side. Every August, you could be sure to catch her at the “Festa Italiana” enjoying the live music, the dancing and the food. She was also a long-standing member of three local groups, all of which gave her life-long friendships and support; the Sleeping Giant Ostomy Grou, Unione Emigranti Sloveni Del Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Ladies Venet Society (DaVinci Centre). Despite many health setbacks throughout her life, Marcella was a wonderfully funny, strong-minded and endearingly unconventional woman whose unique outlook on life made you laugh and warmed your heart.

Marcella will be deeply missed by her children: John, Albert (Lisa), Silvana (Paul Cutbush) and David (Jessica Grassia), by her grandchildren Alex and Sara Azzolini, Niall and Ava Cutbush, by her sister Romilda and extended families in Italy and by Gina Pienig, Godmother to her youngest son.

She was predeceased by her parents Antonio Cendou and Agostina Secli, her husband Antonio Azzolini, her siblings Giovanni and Pina, the Godparents of her eldest children Maria and Izidoro Borgo and Bep Pienig, Godfather to her youngest son, as well as many other close friends over the years.

Thank you to the staff of the North West Local Heath Integration Network and St. Joseph's Hospice for Marcella's home and hospice care in her final weeks and days.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, October 13, 2017 at 11:00am in EVEREST FUNERAL CHAPEL, 299 Waverley Street at Algoma with Fr. Luigi Filippini officiating. Private entombment will take place in Sunset Memorial Gardens.

Memorial donations can be made in Marcella's name to the The Sleeping Giant Ostomy Group at 420 Redwood Avenue West, Thunder Bay P7C 1Z8.

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