Donna C. (Carluccio) D'Avolio

Donna Carluccio D'Avolio, age 84, of Salisbury, Massachusetts passed away peacefully at her beloved family home on Salisbury Beach Sunday afternoon, December 10th.

She was born on May 26, 1939 to Ignazio and Alphonsine Carluccio in Leominster, Massachusetts, attending Leominster schools and graduating from Leominster High School in 1957. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Connecticut in 1961, where she graduated second in her class and served as President of Kappa Kappa Gamma. After completing teaching instruction at Lowell State College in 1962, she taught English and Latin at Gallagher Junior High School in Leominster. In 1964, she received her Master in Education degree from Fitchburg State College.  

In 1965, Donna married Joseph Henry Pendleton of Niantic, Connecticut. The college sweethearts moved to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania where Joe was a manager of the Philadelphia office of the Bell Telephone Company and Donna was a seventh grade teacher at Ridley South Junior High School in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. Following Joe's passing in 1980, Donna moved back to Leominster where she lovingly cared for her parents at their family home and enjoyed planning her Leominster High School class reunions. In 1995, she and her father, a retired pharmacist, moved from Leominster to Salisbury to live year-round at their family beach home, where Donna cared for her father until his passing at the age of 100 in 1997. She married Gerald Donald D'Avolio of Lynnfield, Massachusetts in 2000. The couple spent the last 23 years enjoying family, friends, and travel. They also enjoyed spending time at Salem Country Club in Peabody, Massachusetts and Foxfire Country Club in Naples, Florida.

Donna was predeceased by her parents Ignazio and Alphonsine, her first husband Joe, her sister Anna, and her brothers Kent and Leeds. She is survived by her second husband Gerald and his children Jay and Lisa and their families, along with her brother Lance and his wife Mickie, her sister-in-law Marian, and nine nephews and nieces and their families. Donna will be greatly missed and remembered for her love and support of all her family members and dear friends through the years.

A funeral Mass will be held on Monday, December 18 at 11 A.M. at St. Anna's Parish, Leominster (please go directly to church) with a burial to follow at St. Leo Cemetery, Leominster.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alphonsine A. Carluccio Memorial Scholarship or the I. M. Carluccio Memorial Scholarship, c/o J Carluccio, Trustee, 103 Marvin Road, Colchester, CT  06415

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