Grace A. Finora

Grace A. Finora of Mattituck died peacefully with her immediate family nearby the morning of Aug. 14, at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead. Grace had been admitted there Sunday evening Aug. 12, soon after having passed out at home. A police officer summoned to the home managed to restore her heartbeat and she was then taken by ambulance to Peconic Bay Medical Center where she was pronounced dead some 36 hours later. The cause of death was cardiac arrest.

Grace is survived by her husband of 60 years, Joseph Sr.; her three children: Joseph Jr. of Laurel, Diane Aiello of Fort Salonga and Julianne Corrigan of Garden City and their spouses; nine grandchildren; a sister; and two brothers.

Grace was born in 1933 in the Bronx, New York City, the second of five children of Giuseppe and Giulette (Colavito) Mele, immigrants from a farming village near the southern Italian city of Bari.

Grace graduated from Walton High School where she played basketball and was a regular honor student. Grace later attended evening classes at Hunter College while working as a secretary in the insurance industry. She married Joseph in 1958 and soon after left the workforce to raise a family.

Grace and Joseph regularly summered in Mattituck and moved there full time in 1995. Grace was a member of Sacred Heart Parish, an avid bridge player and one of the founding members of the North Fork Italian-American Club.

The family wishes to thank Southold Police Department, Mattituck Fire Department, and Peconic Bay Medical Center staff for their efforts, as well as family members and friends for their expressions of support and comfort.

In lieu of flowers and in keeping with Grace’s generous nature, the family requests that donations be made to the humanitarian aid group, Rotary International at rotary.org.

Arrangements were entrusted to Coster-Heppner Funeral Home in Cutchogue.

This is a paid notice.