Shirley Ann Bastianelli

Shirley Ann (Picott) Bastianelli, 89, a lifelong resident of Dover, NH, died peacefully on August 17, 2025, after a brief period of illness. Born June 5, 1936, she was the oldest daughter of Lloyd and Lois (Wormell) Picott. She graduated from Dover High School in 1954 with a focus on business and secretarial studies. She was the beloved wife of Antonio (Tony) Bastianelli for almost 66 years.

Shirley met the love of her life, Tony, on Beggars Night in downtown Dover in October of 1952. They immediately fell in love and got married at St. Joseph's Church in January 1955, when she was 18 and he had just turned 20. Their marriage produced six children in nine years. After attending St. Mary's Church (now the Parish of the Assumption) for many years, Shirley attended their program for conversion and became a devout Catholic. She then volunteered as a mentor for other initiates. Shirley and Tony also regularly attended the Church of Our Savior in Cocoa Beach every winter, and she especially loved their music program.

For 22 years, Shirley enjoyed working as an Administrative Assistant at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics (WSBE) at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. She loved to tell the story about her first day of work when one of the professors came to her and said, "We're all going to Vaughn Woods for the afternoon, so put away your work and come with us!" She decided right away that she really liked this job! She made many long-time friends at WSBE, some of whom she travelled with to Washington, DC, Williamsburg, VA, and other places.

Shirley relished traveling with Tony to Scotland, London, Paris, Bermuda, the Bahamas, California, and Las Vegas, among other places. The highlight of their trips was when they visited Atina, Italy, the birthplace of Tony's father, with a beloved niece and her husband, Nancy and Scott. The trip was arranged by Nancy, who had a lifelong love of family history. On her own Shirley enjoyed taking many train rides to NYC to enjoy the city sights with some of her children who lived there.

She happily retired in 1998, and then, in 2000, she and husband Tony became snowbirds, on the Florida Space Coast. They spent many hours sunning at the beach, dining at Port Canaveral, and taking visitors to nearby Cocoa Village, where they enjoyed strolling among the shops and attending many plays at the lovely Cocoa Village Playhouse. They purchased a mobile home in Cape Canaveral in 2004, where they saw lots of shuttle and rocket launches from the beach and the front yard of their mobile home park. They made many lifelong friends in Florida where they enjoyed numerous parties, happy hours, gorgeous sunsets and celebrated their 50th and 60th wedding anniversaries. On many drives to Florida, they stopped in Black Mountain, North Carolina, to visit their daughter, Cathy, and were thrilled when she moved near them in Florida.

They enjoyed the fabulous Florida winters until Tony passed away in November 2020. Shirley loved gardening, knitting, going out to eat and dancing - especially at Ellie Mae's in Cape Canaveral! She was also a very good cook - although she was happy to take a break from that after more than 60 years of cooking almost every night! She made homemade sauce and meatballs every week for her Italian husband for almost all the years of their marriage.

Following her husband's death, she was lovingly cared for at home by her youngest son Chris. She was a client of Brookhaven Hospice for the past year, whose staff greatly enjoyed their visits with her. For the last four months of her life, Shirley lived at Harmony Homes by the Bay in Durham. She quickly became a much loved resident where they enjoyed her quick wit, humor and feisty, yet sweet personality. Her favorite stories, of course, were about her Italian husband, who was both wonderful and very handsome – she loved to say that's why she had six children! She has missed him every day since he departed and was ready to reunite with him.

Left to cherish her memory are her children, Antonio "Tony" Bastianelli, of Rochester, NH, Deanna Randall and husband, Mark, of Derry, PA, Gregory Bastianelli and wife, Rhonda, of Dover, NH, Gino Bastianelli of Bloomfield, CT, Chris Bastianelli of Dover, NH, and Cathy Bastianelli of Cape Canaveral, FL; Brothers, Richard "Dick" Picott of Maine and Fred Picott and wife, Patricia, of Maine; grandchildren, Seth (Krista) Bastianelli, Eric (Kiri Conneely) Bastianelli, Casey Dumais, and Jenna (Brett) Toussaint; 10 great-grandchildren; and dear friends, Gregory Kageleiry and Pat Keefe

She was predeceased by her beloved husband, her parents, and her brother, John.

An hour of visitation will be from 10-11 am and service to follow, on Friday, August, 22, at the Tasker Funeral Home at 621 Central Avenue in Dover. Immediately after there will be a procession to St. Mary Cemetery for a graveside burial with committal prayers.

To leave an online condolence for the family, visit www.taskerfuneralservice.com