- Date Of Birth: January 7, 1926
- Date Of Death: February 2, 2020
- State: New Jersey
Maria Wheatley, nee de Privitellio, passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, at the age of 94. She was predeceased by her son, William (Butchie) Wheatley, her husband, Charles, her brother Andrea, and her parents Anna and Luigi de Privitellio. She was born in Parenzo, Italy, on January 7, 1926. She leaves behind seven children: Carla Myerson (Robert), JoAnn Miller (Gary–deceased), Roberta Roider, Cathy Buckwalter, Alice Goodfellow, Donna DeLaparra (Jack) and Charles Wheatley (Tamie). She was blessed with fifteen grandchildren, twenty-three great grandchildren, and many neices and nephews.
Maria was a well-educated and strong woman, who taught school in Italy in the years following World War II. She spoke several languages, and loved travelling, cooking, knitting, and playing pinochle. She lived through the war in Europe and the occupation thereafter and remembered all the details of those events. She always had a story to tell about her life in Italy, and remembered all the names and places. She came to the United States in 1952, with her American husband and her first two children, and regaled us all with stories about the long boat trip here.
