Barbara Pirozzi

Barbara Agnes (Emsley) Pirozzi passed away at the age of 88 on August 21, 2024 with her loving family at her side, after two years of cognitive decline. Born and raised in Taunton, she was married to Edward T. Pirozzi for 58 years until he passed in 2017. After 65 years in Taunton, they moved to Mashpee on Cape Cod, and she spent her final years living in Sandwich with her daughter Lisa and her husband Bill. Barbara graduated from Saint Mary's School in Taunton and St. Luke's Hospital Nursing Program in New Bedford, and worked as a registered nurse in the Morton Hospital labor and delivery unit for decades. She always said "There is only one most beautiful baby in the world, and every mother has it." Barbara was a lifelong communicant at St. Joseph's Church in Taunton, then at Christ the King Church in Mashpee. She and Eddie spent every Saturday night with longtime friends from high school, and welcomed their children's friends into their homes in Taunton and at John's Pond in Mashpee. Barbara enjoyed kalooping (a word we thought she made up until recently) with her family and friends. She never missed Jeopardy (from the Art Fleming years to Alex Trebek and beyond). She loved knitting and reading until her vision failed some twenty years ago, after which she took up listening to books from the Perkins School for the Blind. Above all, Mom, Babs, Gram, Gigi and Auntie Barbara treasured being with her family. She would laugh so hard telling a story that no one could understand her, and she was a source of never-ending affection and support for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Barbara was the youngest daughter of the late Albert and Mary Agnes (Murphy) Emsley, and the last survivor of their nine children. Her siblings Robert, Albert, Francis, William and Edward Emsley, Rita Sousa, Mary Katherine Gray and Eleanor Emsley all predeceased her. She was predeceased by her infant son Charles Albert Pirozzi. She is survived by her children Lisa Lyons and her husband William of Sandwich, Edward and his wife Therese of Boston, Paul and his wife Laurie of Upton, and Gina Hodgson and her husband James of Lakeville. She also leaves eight grandchildren: Benjamin Lyons and his wife Courtney, William Lyons and his wife Kate, Colleen Lyons, Emily Pirozzi, Sam Pirozzi, Max Pirozzi, Abigail Hodgson, and Allison Hodgson; and great-grandchildren Luke and Jane, Mia and Natalie Lyons. She also leaves her beloved niece and lifelong best friend Maureen Bertrand, along with dozens of other nieces and nephews. Barbara will be waked at O'Keefe-Wade Funeral Home, 70 Washington Street in Taunton on Wednesday August 28 from 4-7pm. The funeral mass will take place at St. Andrew the Apostle Church, 19 Kilmer Avenue in Taunton at 10am Thursday August 29. Burial will follow at St. Francis Cemetery in Taunton. Donations in gratitude for Barbara can be directed to Perkins School for the Blind online at www.perkins.org or at 175 North Beacon Street, Watertown, MA 02472.
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