Nadine Therese Costello

After having been diagnosed with cancer in January, Nadine Therese Costello, 82, passed Sunday, July 25, 2010, at her home in Morro Bay. She was born Nair Rocha on a dairy farm in Tulare, Calif., the youngest of nine children of Joseph and Angelica Rocha, who immigrated from the Portuguese Azores Islands in 1920. Nadine''s family moved to Visalia, then Hanford, Calif., and she graduated from Hanford High School in 1946. She entered the convent of the Dominican Sisters in Kenosha, Wis., and for a time and taught parochial school in Albuquerque, N.M. She remained a nun for six years, then left the order and returned to California. There she met Leo F. Costello of Homer, N.Y., and they married on January 29, 1955, at St. Therese''s Catholic Church in Fresno. Nadine was a devoted wife and dedicated mother who helped the family adjust during the moves from Fresno, to Saratoga, to Orinda, and finally to Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., where they lived for 21 years. She and Leo retired to Morro Bay in 1991. Nadine was a devout Catholic and active in every parish she belonged to, most recently as a lector at St. Timothy''s in Morro Bay. Her prime focus was her family, but she also enjoyed gardening, world travel, tennis, musical theater, classic movies and Perry Como. Nadine is survived by four sons Leo Jr. of Raleigh, N.C., Michael (Merrilee) of San Luis Obispo, John of La Quinta, Calif., and Kevin (Elizabeth) of Stockton, Calif.; and eight grandchildren Rosemary, Thomas, Anna, Stephen, Jeremy, Peter, Ashley and John. She was preceded in death by her husband of 49 years, Leo; parents, Joseph and Angelica; and siblings Mary Bertao, Rose Muniz, Levia Rocha, Evelyn Brooks, Joe Rocha Jr., Adeline DeBrum, Eddie Rocha, and Alice McCullough. All are invited to a vigil to be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, July 29, 2010, at St. Timothy''s Catholic Church, 962 Piney Way in Morro Bay. Visitation will be from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday, July 30, 2010, at Whitehurst-McNamara Funeral Home, 100 W. Bush in Hanford, followed by Mass of Christian burial at 11 a.m. at St. Brigid''s Catholic Church, 200 E. Florinda St. in Hanford. Interment will follow at Calvary Cemetery in Hanford. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dominican Motherhouse, Congregation of St. Catherine of Siena, P.O. Box 1288, Kenosha, WI 53141; St. Timothy''s Catholic Church in Morro Bay; or Hospice Partners of the Central Coast.