MARY LOU MOLLI

MARY MOLLI Memoriam

MARY LOU MOLLI
December 30, 1947
November 27, 2014

Mary Lou,
Eight years ago today the Angels called
you to heaven.
Your family deeply misses you!!
Your Loving Husband,
Rick

We will always remember your love and
great smile

Your loving family:
Rick (Paula), Phil (Karen)
Your Grandchildren:
Jeremy, Devin, Van, Kitt, Freckles

Beloved sister, godmother and aunt
held close in our hearts.
Marilyn (Molli) Valdez, Mark Molli, John
Molli, Lisa
(Molli) Tierney and families

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Published by The Washington Post on Nov. 27, 2022.

Memories and Condolences
for MARY MOLLI

1 Entry

Mark Molli

November 29, 2022

In Loving Memory

Mary Lou Elizabeth Molli
Good morning and thank you for attending. My name is Mark Molli and on behalf of my older sister Marilyn, and my younger brother and sister John and Lisa, we would like to convey a few words about the life of
Mary Lou, this remarkable woman who we called "our big sister."
Mary Lou´s Character
The first thing you should know is that Marylou´s strong character was molded by our parents who always taught us the importance of treating people with dignity, fairness and respect. Her character was
also strengthened to some degree by the transient military life that moves families through multiple cities in foreign lands, hundreds of new acquaintances, and countless enduring experiences.
Marylou was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1947 (the same city where sister Marilyn was later born). And to give you an idea of the nomadic military life she then moved to the following locations over the next 20
years:
--- Ft. Polk, Louisiana when my father reentered the U.S. military;
--- then to a U.S. Army base in Landstuhl, West Germany (where I was born)
--- back stateside to Glen Burnie, MD, where my father served at Ft. Meade
---- she then returned to Europe to a military base located in Vicenza, Italy which is in the northern part of the country, not far from Venice.
---- from there she went stateside again for two different stops in the state of Texas, first San Antonio and then El Paso, Texas (where our brother John was born)
---- she returned again to Italy in 1962, this time to a city on the Mediterranean sea called Livorno while my father served a tour of duty in Korea
---- Upon my father´s return a year later we travelled to a small town in France called Vitry le Francois where there was a small U.S. Army medical depot. It was so small it did not have a Department of Defense high school, and Mary Lou attended a school in a city of wartime fame called Verdun, boarded there, and came home on weekends.
---- one year later our family moved to the city of Orleans, France -- the city that was made famous by Joan of Arc, a heroine of France and a Roman Catholic Saint.
--- Upon graduating from an American dependent high school in France in 1965, Mary Lou returned with her family for another assignment in Vicenza, Italy (where our sister Lisa was born).
---- She attended a U.S. junior college in Munich, Germany and later graduated from the University of Missouri.
That is quite a ride for someone to go through in their formative years, and it all seems to happen in the blink of an eye. But through all the disruptions, through all the tearful goodbyes to friends, through all the new adjustments, Mary Lou handled it all without complaints and always had a cheerful and hopeful outlook.

JFK pin
I do have one story to tell you that I just heard this past week about Marylou. Those who are 60 years or older will remember the very heated presidential campaign between Richard Nixon and John F.
Kennedy in 1960. One day Mary Lou wore a John Kennedy political button to school and someone physically attacked her for doing so. A lesser person might have called it quits but Mary Lou went to school the very next day proudly wearing the Kennedy button again.
Ernest Hemingway once referred to people with this type of inner courage as "grace under pressure." That was Mary Lou.

Marylou´s Goodness
The second thing I would like to share with you is Marylou´s goodness. She was a kind and gentle soul who made others around her feel at ease. She was a very fashionable dresser, but didn´t put on airs.
My brother and two sisters and I agree she was the smartest of the five children, but she never let anyone feel inferior or out of place. She loved life, she loved animals, especially her cats Kitt and Freckles, and
as the oldest of the five children she was the kind of big sister that everybody would be proud to have. She didn´t have children of her own, but she was a wonderful mother to Rick´s two sons and
children. She was Aunt Mary Lou to all the Molli children and godmother to my son Matthew, touching them all with her comforting and caring spirit. Her love knew no bounds.

Marylou´s Strength
And finally I want you to know about Marylou´s inner strength, which was an inspiration to us all. When she was in college she had a severe head injury and almost lost her life, but she battled back from that setback to live a rich and full life. For the past few years she fought with all her strength against a deadly disease with courage and grit that was truly remarkable. She fought to the very end with my sister Marilyn and
I holding her hands to her last and final breath.
She had the same indomitable spirit that Lord Alfred Tennyson captured so eloquently in his famous quotation:
"That which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. "
Rest in peace, Mary Lou Molli. We will always love you.