March 29, 2024

Marie Ellen (Andrews) Colella

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Marie Ellen (Andrews) Colella, Passed away on July 22, 2021.
She was the beloved wife of F. Paul Colella. They were married for 70 years.
Marie was born on November 16, 1932. She was the daughter of the late Anthony Andrews and Mary Silva Andrews. Marie is survived by her three children, Patricia M. Armstrong, (Andrew), Jay Paul Colella, MD (Audrey Richards, MD), and Kim DeMagistris (Stephen).

Marie lived in Rumford, RI at 41 Berwick Place and Vero Beach, Florida. She was strikingly beautiful and poised but devoid of vanity. She won many beauty contests but when congratulated she smiled and somewhat shyly responded with a polite "thank you". Marie was hardworking even as a teenager saving her earnings and buying all of her own clothes. She even bought hats for her mother whom she adored. Marie graduated from East Providence High School, and she was happy to say that Paul and their three children graduated from EP also.

Marie is survived by four grandchildren, Katherine Clune (Ryan), Allison McManamon (Jay), Abigail Colella (Daniel Davidson), Paul A. Colella, and his fiancé Adriana Olaya. Marie also leaves four great-grandchildren, Finley and Daniel Clune and Jack and Maddie McManamon.

When Marie's children were all in school, she considered private secretarial employment. However, Paul suggested and urged her to go to college and she mustered up her spunkiness and enrolled at Bryant College at the age of thirty-six. Bryant was nearby on the East Side of Providence.

She graduated in 1970 with honors and began teaching at Lincoln High School in Lincoln, Rhode Island. She earned a Master's Degree from Providence College in 1973 and retired after twenty-five years in 1995.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, July 28, 2021, at 10:00 AM in Saint Margaret's Church, 1098 Pawtucket Avenue, Rumford. Burial will be private. Calling hours will be held on Tuesday from 4-7 in the PERRY-MCSTAY FUNERAL HOME, 2555 Pawtucket Avenue, East Providence. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Marie's memory to Saint Margaret's Church, Rumford.

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