Maria Livia Fort

The world has lost another shining light…Maria Livia Fort died peacefully in her sleep on Friday, March 29 at Belmont Village Albany, where she had been living for the prior 7+ years, most recently in Memory Care.

At 92, Maria lived an extraordinary life where she conducted every interaction with positivity, wit, intelligence, and grace. She was born Marika Livia Zinner on September 26, 1931, in Eger, Hungary to Hugo and Renee Zinner (both deceased). She was the first of two daughters. Sadly, both Maria's father and her younger sister, Katika, were killed during WWII. Despite this early tragedy, Maria had a positive view on life. She and her mother immigrated to the United States in 1945. She started her college education at Ohio State where she met the love of her life, Joel Fort, on a blind date on New Year's Eve, 1950. They were married the following year and stayed married (64 years) until Joel's death in 2015.

Maria's light and love continues to live on in her extended family who remained very close to her throughout her life. Maria leaves behind her children, Titan and Nancy (Giacomelli) Fort, Gita (Fort) Paquette and Parcae (Fort) Lockman as well as Gita's three children, Jason Paquette, Melissa Paquette and her husband Jon Takiff and Diana Paquette. Maria was well-loved by her children and grandchildren and will be deeply missed by them all.

Maria was extremely accomplished in her professional life. She worked for the Federal Head Start Program for over 40 years where she reached the position of Senior Program Administrator. She helped to ensure the quality of the programs for all the Head Start students in her region and loved being able to visit the schools and interact with the children. Maria earned her Masters in Social & Clinical Psychology (abd) from Cal, Berkeley. Ironically, Maria was not able to complete her dissertation as women were not allowed to obtain that level at that time.

Maria was equally accomplished in her personal life. Not only did she work full time outside of the home but she also managed to chauffeur her children to all their activities and to support them in anyway needed. Maria was a gourmet cook and her family and friends have many wonderful memories of the amazing dinners she and Joel would host for their friends. Holidays and birthdays were always very special and celebratory events for the family. She and Joel tried to impact the world positively through volunteering, donating money and serving on various Boards.

Maria and Joel loved to travel the world and often shared those travels with their children. Favorite destinations were Paris, Barcelona, Hawaii, Budapest, and New York where they loved to visit museums and friends and to absorb the local culture. Maria will always be remembered for her positive outlook, the beautiful way she treated people and for her grace and style (inside and out), not to mention her lipstick!

A Celebration of Life was held in May, 2024.

If interested in honoring Maria's memory, donations to the following (or any charity) are encouraged:

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkingson's Research: https://www.michaeljfox.org

Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano: https://www.give.foodbankccs.org