Marie Dorothy De Carlo

1930 - 2021

Marie Dorothy (Sapolis) De Carlo passed away peacefully at home in Buffalo Grove, Ill., on July 19, 2021, at the age of 90.

She was born in Duryea on Aug. 9, 1930, and lived on Main Street until age 5 when her family moved to 435 New St. Both her parents lived there the rest of their lives. Her father, Louis Sapolis, was born in Duryea and worked as a motorman in coal mine #9, and her mother, Mary Kupcho Sapolis, born in Berwick, worked in a sewing factory when Marie was a teenager. Marie worked in the factory alongside her mother for a short time, long enough to realize that she wanted something different for herself.

After graduating from Duryea High School, she attended nursing school at the Jewish Hospital in Brooklyn where she met her future husband, Joachim (Jack) Joseph De Carlo, of Newark, N.J. Marie and Jack were married on Sept. 15, 1951, and were married for 66 years until Jack's death April 15, 2018. They raised five children in Morristown, N.J. Marie left nursing to raise her children and then become a travel agent. She and Jack opened and operated Guaranteed Travel and De Carlo Cruise Center for many years, becoming leaders in New Jersey Association of Travel Agents. Marie travelled the world many times over with Jack and their many friends in the travel business.

On July 4, 1976, Marie decided to celebrate America's bicentennial with a party that became a beloved 4th of July tradition with her family and friends. Marie was never happier than when she was hosting a party. The last 4th of July party was held in 1999 just before Marie and Jack retired to Barnegat, N.J. Up until her death this year she was still receiving cards thanking her for those parties. Marie and Jack moved to Mount Prospect, Ill., in 2010 to be near to their children and grandchildren.

Marie is survived by her five children Suzanne (Keith) Ross, Denise Tierney, Julie De Carlo, Jack (Trish) De Carlo, Marie LaPierre; her grandchildren Nicole LaPierre, Tim Tierney, Jeff Tierney, Emily (Dave) Martensen, and Don Ross, III; and six beloved great-grandchildren, Kaela and Danny Tierney, Grace and Theo Martensen, Charlotte (CC) and Donny Ross. She is also survived by her beloved aunts, Margaret Arcarola (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Anna Ostrowski (Falls) and their children, her brother's wife Mary Ann (Louis) Sapolis and their children Maureen Berger, Doris Pucilowski, Doreen Sapolis, Marian Serafin, and Louis Sapolis Jr.

Her family celebrated her life at a private service in July. It was Marie and Jack's wish to be interred at Peter and Paul Cemetery in Duryea, which their children hope to honor next summer.