Mary Posa

Mary De Grazia Posa, a loving and much-loved matriarch of her extended family, died at her home in Plymouth Township on Oct. 28 after a long illness. She was 93. Born February 26, 1928, in San Pietro in Amantea, Italy, Mary came to America in 1937 with her mother and three siblings, joining her father to live in Dearborn. Speaking no English, she was placed in a regular elementary classroom, but by 1947 she was graduated from Fordson High School. After working office and waitress jobs, she married Antonio Posa, whose parents also were from Calabria in southern Italy. Her husband, Tony, courted her while he was serving in the U.S. Army, writing her letters almost every day, letters that Mary treasured and kept all her life. They were married in 1952 and had four sons and a daughter, Frances, who predeceased her in 2009. She also had 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, and she was a great caregiver all her life, even sitting with great-grandchildren until recent illnesses. Mary loved bowling, and enjoyed gardening flowers, herbs and tomatoes into her 90s and regularly attended Sunday mass. Sunday dinners at her home were always a family event, first in Dearborn Heights, then in Rancho Bernardo, Calif., where Tony's health and job took them for 15 years, then back to Michigan after his death in 1987. Especially important were holiday meals. Often both Posa and De Grazia cousins joined in preparations for these wonderful feasts. In 2018, her family surprised Mary with a huge 90th birthday party at Cantoros restaurant in Plymouth, attended by more than 300 friends and relatives. Surviving are four sons: Sandy (Yvonne); Al (Mary Lou); Steve (Pat); and Ron (Diane). Also surviving are grandchildren: Michael (Molly); Andrea (Jeff) Anderson; Maria (Abby). Antonio Maxwell; Kathleen (James) Kearney; Nicholas (Michelle)' Alexandra and Victoria; Eric, Christopher and Sarah. Her great-grandchildren are Serafina, Vera and Arlo; James Kearney; Nathaniel, Vincent and Antonio; Dominic, Luciana and Tulio Farmer. Also surviving is her sister, Joyce Waterbury (Ron Conners), brothers-in-law, Alfredo (Pat) Posa and Robert Ankeny, and her sister-in-law, Claudia DeGrazia Visitation is Friday, Nov. 5, from 2 to 8 p.m. with a Rosary at 7 pm at Stanley Turowski Funeral Home, 25509 W. Warren Ave., Dearborn Heights. A funeral mass is scheduled Saturday, Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. at St. Mary, Cause of Our Joy Church, 8200 N. Wayne Rd., Westland, with visitation starting at 10:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to United Cerebral Palsy or the Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund.