Coronavirus in Oregon: Marie Colasurdo died 3 days shy of her 92nd birthday, a lover of opera and gardening – OregonLive

Marie Colasurdo was a Renaissance woman in her own right.

She filled her home with the sounds of opera, including Luciano Pavarotti and Mario Lanza.

She maintained an impressive classical music record collection and usually had one spinning on the record player in the living room of the Southwest Portland home where she and her husband Angelo raised their nine children.

Later, when her children were older, Colasurdo would go on to lead the Portland Opera Guild.

Colasurdo, a master home economist and deeply faithful woman who imbued in her children a love of the arts, died Dec. 9. The onset of COVID-19 accelerated her declining health. She was three days from turning 92.

Colasurdos children describe a warm and loving mother who handled the task of raising a large family if not with ease she had the children in a 10-year span -- then certainly with grace.

She grew into that role, said her daughter, Christine Colasurdo, who lives in Portland. She rose to the occasion. She became this matriarch of nine children. That was her job trying to support us and be there for us.

Her mother, she said, gave those she loved the greatest gift: her attention.

She was very much aware of helping others and being present for others, she said.

Born Dec. 12, 1928, Colasurdo was raised in Chicago. She was one of seven children six girls and a boy born to a barber and homemaker. Her father immigrated to the United States from Czechoslovakia as a teen. Her mother took in sewing jobs to help support the family. They lived above her fathers barber shop.

She was 22 when she met Angelo Colasurdo, who was raised in Seattle and was attending dental school in Chicago. He rented a room in a house a half-block from the apartment where Maries family lived.

The Colasurdos 63-year marriage was featured in The Oregonian five years ago, shortly before Angelo Colasurdo died from a heart condition.

The couple spoke about their first meeting.

My younger sister got all excited that she saw this good-looking guy walking by, Marie Colasurdo recalled during that interview. The next day, my mother had made a pie. She took the pan and the pie over to him.

It was when Angelo Colasurdo, who was known as A.J., returned the empty pie plate that he met his future bride.

The couple moved to Portland, where Angelo Colasurdo established a dental practice. He worked there for 53 years before retiring in 2006. His son, John, and grandson, Vincent, joined the practice, which continues today.

Marie Colasurdo was a city girl, her daughters recalled, but she gamely headed into the Pacific Northwest woods with her husband and their large brood for camping trips. She learned to love the outdoors, they said.

She came from inner-city poverty to the West Coast where she didnt know anyone, said her daughter, Celeste Colasurdo, who also lives in Portland. She had to build a whole new community for herself.

Her daughters said their mother learned traditional Czech cooking and would make savory chicken and pork dumplings, and sweet ones, too, filled with plums. For her husband, whose family immigrated from Italy, she learned how to make homemade ravioli.

Colasurdo especially loved to bake berry pies almost as much as her husband enjoyed eating them, the couples children recalled.

He was always complimentary of her cooking, Christine Colasurdo said.

Indeed, Angelo Colasurdo mentioned his wifes pies in the 2015 Oregonian piece.

Her pies! he exclaimed. Poor thing, shes got arthritis now, but her pies were so outstanding. Oh, my goodness! She knew how to make that dough just right.

Christine Colasurdo said her mothers own parents couldnt afford music lessons for their children so Marie Colasurdo became an enthusiast instead of a musician.

She said her mom showed her the vibrancy of Portlands classical music organizations, from choral groups to Portlands all-classical station, 89.9.

Marie Colasurdo was a longtime member of the choir at St. Thomas More Catholic Church.

In retirement, the Colasurdos moved to Sauvie Island, where Marie started Sauvie Island Bed & Breakfast.

She got that going all by herself and did a great job, said Marita Ingalsbe, the couples oldest child, who lives in Portland. She just loved people.

A constant in Colasurdos life was her love of the news, which her daughters saw as a reflection of her commitment to her community. She was an avid reader of The Oregonian, they said, and she frequently wrote letters to the editor about the news of the day.

I was thinking of how important The Oregonian was to her, Ingalsbe said. She read it up until the last couple of days of her life.

Ingalsbe recalled as a child seeing her tired mom at the kitchen table at the end of a long day of taking care of her kids and the family home.

I remember seeing her sitting at the kitchen table with her eyes closed trying to finish the paper, she said.

When the end came this month, Colasurdo was ready, her daughters said.

She found comfort in her faith.

Im going to shower all the good things down on you from heaven, she told her grandson, Pablo Olavarrieta, 21.

In addition to her three daughters in Portland, Colasurdo is survived by daughter Terese Stassinos of Santa Barbara, California, and sons John and Bernie, both of Portland, and son Michael of Eugene. The Colasurdos lost two daughters, Jeanine Ierulli and Elizabeth Colasurdo, to cancer.

Colasurdo remained focused on her family until the end.

Dont worry, she told them.

She knew she was going to a good place, said Ingalsbe.

-- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie

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Coronavirus in Oregon: Marie Colasurdo died 3 days shy of her 92nd birthday, a lover of opera and gardening - OregonLive