Luigi Di Marco

Luigi Di Marco, originally of Brittoli, Provincia de Pescara, Italy, passed away on April 2, 2025, after a heroic fight against the medical establishment. He was 80 years old.
The oldest of Antonio Di Marco and Malta (Maldine) Iannetti's sons, he, along with his brothers, spent their youth living alongside their cousins, aunts, uncles and friends in the shadow of Gran Sasso in the mountains of central Italy in the years following the second world war. His years growing up in Italy taught him many things, but the greatest lesson he learned was the value of action. While many would say he was a hard worker, that would be a gross over simplification of his humble character. He was, above all things, a doer of deeds and not one to laude of his accomplishments. His many accomplishments were not simply the result of hard work. They were the natural consequences of a life focused on thought turned into action and action turned into results.
Lui became a naturalized citizen of the United States and a resident here after he emigrated in 1968. Arriving at the age of 24, with less than $300.00 to his name, he began to work on building a life through intelligence, enormous effort and sheer willpower.
He was the true love of Mary-Anne (Puleo) Di Marco since their first meeting almost 60 years ago and her husband since 1968. They raised four children and were parents and grandparents to their children, children-in-law and 15 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. He was blessed by a close family, starting with his soulmate and wife Mary-Anne, his eldest son Antonio and wife Joanne, his son Roberto and wife Maria Teresa, his eldest daughter Marianna and husband Angelo, and his youngest daughter Anita and husband Jason. Later he and Mary-Anne welcomed their beloved grandchildren, Zachary, Destiny, Mario, Jacob, Sofia, Giovanni, Analuisa, Miana, Salvatore, Jackson, Devyn, Luciano, Serafina, Christina, and Angelo Jr. and great-grandchildren Mila and Luciana. He was predeceased by his parents and two brothers, an infant and his adult brother Sergio and several aunts, uncles, and cousins. In addition to his immediate family, Luigi leaves behind his beloved brother Ugo, many well loved sisters and brothers-in-law, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews here and in Italy. Though a man of his time, his acceptance and love of his family meant that he saw each individual for their true self, regardless of their race, religion, orientation, blood or life choices. He believed fully in the right of every person to choose their own path, so long as that path brought them fulfillment and imposed no burden on others.
A business owner since 1974, Lui was a humble but brilliant self-taught machinist and mechanical engineer, who designed and built various machinery in his small printing shop in Melrose, being the first in his industry to break into new technologies and adapting them through various new and repurposed machines. His workshop was always an eclectic collection of various parts and tools, over whose use many would puzzle, but with which he was as proficient as any craftsman. His command of the trades, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, stonework, etc. was the envy of many a person who witnessed his wizardry. He also designed and built, by hand, a wide variety of landscape marvels in his various homes and properties over the last 50 plus years. His creativity and physical efforts resulted in rooftop patios, 600-foot-long stone walls, 22,000 brick driveways, hand-dug wells, hand-carved creeks, waterfalls and hand-chiseled stone pizza ovens. He also built benches, cutting boards, birdhouses, poured cement basement floors, and restored old cars (Fiats and MGs).
Less overt was his love of literature and history. He was well read, having a love of Dante's The Divine Comedy. He would often relate his hand binding of his copy of The Divine Comedy and mention in passing his one-time desire to join the priesthood for the sake of earning an education, a goal he never pursued due to the hardships of his youth. He often used Archimedes as an example when teaching his children how to tack and rig printing machines weighing tons and moving them around his shop with the ease of someone carrying laundry from one room to another. He would say, "Archimedes said give him a crowbar and a place to stand and he can move the world. He was right. Watch." Though many would fail to hear him through his accent, his children caught every word.
He loved his family without measure or equal, with one exception, his wife, who remained his singular focus and commitment. He believed his meeting her during her vacation in 1965 was the single greatest miracle of his life, often commenting that she was "smarter and stronger" than him but that he was ok with that.
Papa always believed that one had to look at their accomplishments with an eye towards tomorrow. His belief that you should always live today for all it was worth, no matter how difficult, was summed up by the seemingly pessimistic view that "Tomorrow will be worse". His meaning was a more positive one however because he always believed that today was the best day.
His funeral will be held from the A. J. Spadafora Funeral Home, 865 Main Street, Malden on Monday, April 7, 2025, at 9 a.m., followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in celebration of and thanksgiving for his life at 10 a.m. at St Joseph's Church, 770 Salem Street, Malden. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Visiting hours will be on Sunday, April 6, 2025, from 4-8 p.m. Interment of ashes will be at a later date in Forestdale Cemetery, Malden