Marjorie Farina

East Lyme - Marjorie E. (Conboy) Farina, 79, formerly of Niantic and Gulfport Fla., passed away Saturday Sept. 13, 2008, at Marlborough Hospital after being stricken ill earlier that week. Her husband, CSM, US Army Frank J. Farina Jr. passed in 1984.

Born Feb. 11, 1929, in New London, she was the daughter of Thomas and Mabel (Olsen) Conboy. She lived in Niantic for many years until relocating to Gulfport, Fla., after retiring in 1988. She was a 1947 graduate of The Williams Memorial Institute, a 1952 graduate of Lawrence and Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, earning a degree in nursing and becoming a RN. Mrs. Farina also graduated from Eastern CT State College in 1982 earning her bachelor's degree in psychology. Her career in nursing was as an emergency room nurse at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital and a mental health nurse with The New London Visiting Nurses Association.

Mrs. Farina was an active volunteer with Meals on Wheels, The International Museum and Children's Hospital of St. Petersburg, Fla. She was a member of The Williams School Alumni Association and an active member of The Ladies Elks # 1224 in Florida serving as President from 1999 to 2000 and was honored with the award of Lady Elk and Lady Elk of the Year in 2004. A funeral mass will be celebrated for Mrs. Farina at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday Sept. 17, in St. Mary's Roman catholic Church, 17 Waterville St., in North Grafton, Mass.

She will be laid to rest with her beloved husband in The Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, Mass., on Cape Cod. The family will receive friends and family from 9 to 10 a.m. on Wednesday Sept. 17, in The Roney Funeral Home, 152 Worcester St., in North Grafton, Mass., before the funeral mass.

Mrs. Farina is survived by her seven children, Theresa Farina and her husband, Dave Henry of Eugene, Ore., Karen Catalanotti and her husband, BG US Army Robert Catalanotti, Hollis Rosendale both of Grafton, Frank J. Farina III and his wife, Sheree of Old Lyme, Mary Patricia Shell and her husband, Byron, of Marbury, Ala., M. Michele Tardie and her husband, David, of New Sweden Maine, Christopher Farina of Mechanicsville, Md.; and one sister, Susan McCaslin. Mrs. Farina was also a loving and dedicated grandmother to her eighteen grandchildren, and aunt to one niece and two nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The American Heart Association, 5 Brookside Dr., Wallingford CT 06492.

A condolence book and directions are available at www.roneyfuneralhome.com