Lucia (Verrocchi) Frattaroli
March 11, 1929-January 10, 2013
On Thursday, January 10th, Lucia (Verrocchi) Frattaroli passed away, surrounded by the many members of her loving and supportive family. Lucia will be remembered as the namesake of Lucia Ristorante and Bar, located both in the North End and in Winchester. But she will be forever remembered by her family as a loving, kind, devoted and strong matriarch.
Born in Sulmona, Italy, Lucia was the third of seven children born to Donato and Maria Carrolina Verrocchi. In 1949, she married Arturo Frattaroli and in postwar Italy she raised four sons and a daughter. Growing up she endured fascism, a World War and the German occupation of Sulmona and these hardships only proved to make her a stronger person, especially when first her husband left for America, followed by two of her sons. It was more than a year after her husband left for the U.S. that she joined him, bringing her youngest son and daughter but leaving behind her oldest child who had already begun a family of his own. Her determination to give her family a better life gave her the strength to leave her siblings behind as well as she passed her strength and love down through her five children and eight grandchildren.
Once the family opened Lucia’s Ristorante, she became not only the namesake but she also worked tirelessly cooking, cleaning and even being the cashier. She did all this while also working as a seamstress. While she had many great successes in her life, her greatest legacy remains her family. Lucia leaves her adoring husband Arturo as well as her cherished children, her loving daughter Anna Maria and sons Francesco and his late wife Maria Rita, Tonino and his wife Elaine, Filippo and his wife Anna, Donato and his fiancé Annmarie. Also grieving her loss are her treasured grandchildren, Philip Sarita, Daniella, Nicholas and his wife Ariana, Jessica, Donato and Gianni and her beloved siblings Giuseppe, Salvatore, Panfilo and Wanda Curini. Along with her parents, Lucia is predeceased by her brother Mario, her sister Assunta and her dear grandson Mark.
A funeral mass for Lucia was offered on Monday, January 14th at Saint Leonard Church with her burial following at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett. If you would like to offer your condolences to the family, the Frattarolis have requested that donations in Lucia’s name be made to The Italian Home for Children, 1125 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130. May she rest in eternal comfort and peace.