This is the eulogy that her cousin Roz gave at the funeral:
Elegant, beautiful, graceful, intriguing, exceptional, courageous, strong, gorgeous, brilliant, witty, charismatic, loyal friend, exuded love, wise advisor, and burst of sunshine. These are all words and phrases used to describe my cousin Marie...and although I agree whole heartedly with each and everyone of these endearing terms, I want to tell you that I didn’t come up with them myself, they came from all of you, I took them from the many tributes to Marie that I read in a variety of different places, from her friends, family, co workers and the acquaintances that she left such a strong impression on.
I’d like to start out by telling you how Marie made an impression in my life. I am an only child, I have always viewed Marie and her two sisters as more than cousins, my children even address Marie, Joanne, and Carole as their Aunt. The word cousin doesn’t do our relationship justice, cousins could be people you have met a few times in your life and don’t really have a close bond with, but my cousins are so much more, and when I think about my childhood it is filled with memories of my 3 cousins..so many joyous memories of holidays..we never spent a Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter a part.
There are a few memories of Marie that are engrained in my heart and in my mind, and I would like to share a few with you all today. When I search my memory, I see Marie as a teen, and of course i was a very little girl, but I can still see her strumming the guitar and singing, she showed me a few cords once.. and taught me an easy tune on the guitar, which is still today as I speak before you, the only song I ever learned on the guitar, well maybe with the exception of Smoke on the Water. I also see her playing the piano and singing at my aunt Connie’s home in Glendale so graceful and sweet. I would just sit and watch her with such awe. As a little girl I always new she was something extraordinary, and she proved that over and over throughout the years. In later years, I can think of countless Christmas’s watching her and her nephew Justin, who shares her love of music playing the piano and singing at he sister Joanne’s home. I think her love of music must of started at a young age because I’ve always heard stories about how she orchestrated musicals with her younger sisters and they’d perform them in front of the family and guests...they were the life of the party. In kindergarden she even taught her 3 year old little sister Joanne a song, then brought her to her kindergarten class for show and tell...she must of been an amazing teacher at 5 yrs old because her sister actually performed the whole tune from beginning to end.
When I describe Marie there is one word that comes to mind over and over and that word is exceptional...The last memory I would like to share is a memory of Marie that goes way back to the time I was 8 or 9 years old. I’d like to share a side of Marie that many of you may not have ever seen, you may know her in a business setting or a social setting but Marie has yet another exceptional side. When marie graduated high school she got a job at a home for the emotional and mentally challenged . A couple times Marie brought me into her work to visit the patients...being a young child I was a little uncomfortable in those surroundings, but what sticks with me like glue, is how much those people adored Marie. She was so good with them, she talked to them, played games with them and cared for them with so much respect and dignity...again, I was awed and amazed, and what I didn’t know then is it takes a truly special and genuine person to do what she did, she was still just a teenager...and she did it like she did everything in her life, with grace and great passion.
Marie had a strong love of family..her Italian roots were embedded deeply ...she always took an interest in the decisions I was making and when she thought I was making poor ones, she had no problem letting me know, always with love and respect.., she had an amazing way with words....and now that my daughter Tori will be graduating from high school exactly one year from now...Marie took the time to write her a letter to share some of her college experiences at LMU. This was just a few short weeks ago, even while her disease had progressed to the stage it had , she was concerned about Tori and if she planned on attending a 4 year Institution. Truly Exceptional..
Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the fact that I believe Marie was the most blessed woman in the world the day she married James Holweger. Their marriage was truly a match made in heaven...the mutual admiration, love, honor and respect is one to be admired and inspired by...And when you hear the words, in sickness and in heath, till death do us part, you know Jim took those words about as seriously as one person could..I believe Jim earned himself a special place in heaven for everything he did for Marie in sickness AND in health, and he did it out of the love and adoration he held for his beautiful bride Marie. God Bless you Jim.
As you can see..Marie was all of the endearing terms above..the courage she displayed these past few years was nothing short of remarkable...Thank you Marie for the great inspiration you leave behind for all of us...you will always be in our hearts and you will always be our Angel...
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