Marie Grace Cuomo passed peacefully into the hands of the Lord on April 7, 2022, in her home in her beloved Newtown, Conn. Marie was 91.

Born on the kitchen table in Boston’s North End on July 1, 1930, she was the daughter of Rosalie Muscarella Amoroso and Guido Amoroso. As a young girl, Marie relocated to Brooklyn, N.Y., and attended Bay Ridge High School, where she skipped a grade and graduated as valedictorian. It was also in Brooklyn where she met her husband, Louis Cuomo. The couple wed in 1952 and remained married for the rest of their lives. Marie worked in Manhattan offices before having her first two children, Douglas and Lisa, in Brooklyn. In 1957, Louis and Marie moved their growing family to suburban Hazlet, N.J., where they had another son, Stephen. While in New Jersey, Marie was active in a local book club, became a landlord and real estate agent, and gave piano lessons.

In 1976, Marie relocated to Newtown with her husband and youngest son, continuing to sell real estate. In the 1980s, she worked in administration at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Conn., where she became an English Literature major. Always an avid student and voracious reader, by the 1990s Marie had earned a bachelor’s degree, and it was only her ambivalence toward Phys Ed that prevented her from receiving a diploma! A devout Catholic, she was a member of a Bible study group and the League of Women Voters in Newtown. Marie was a strong woman who made a full recovery from a broken hip at age 88 and lived independently in her home after her husband Lou’s passing in 2016, still proudly doing her own driving, shopping, cooking, and cleaning right to the end.

Marie loved talking with people and was never afraid to speak her mind.

Throughout her life, Marie had a passion for film, art and music, playing piano, singing opera, and watching TCM well into the night. One of her fondest memories was chaperoning the Newtown High School Band on a tour of Germany and Austria. A love for travel also brought her to places like Italy, Ireland, Egypt, Spain, and throughout the United States. For decades she spent winters in Key West with Louis. A true nature lover, she liked nothing more than just sitting in the sun on a nice day and watching the water. Known far and wide for her amazing cooking, Marie had several specialties coveted by her children and grandchildren, including a beef soup and other old Italian family recipes that she passed down to the next generation. She was a world-class connoisseur of fine Italian pastry.

In addition to her parents, Marie was predeceased by her husband, Louis Cuomo; son, Douglas Cuomo; brother, James Forester; and sister, Lucille Dee.

Surviving are her daughter, Lisa (Michael), and son, Stephen (Martine); grandchildren: Michael (Rebecca), Theresa (Jason), Max, Owen, and Gavin; brother, Larry; great-grandsons, Mario and Thomas, and many nieces and nephews.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Monday, April 18, 2022, at 10:30 am at Saint Rose of Lima Church in Newtown. Interment will follow in St Rose Cemetery. There are no calling hours.

Honan Funeral Home, 58 Main Street, Newtown, is in charge of arrangements.