PORTLAND – Mary Jeanette (Johnson) Pellegrino, 97, passed peacefully at home with loved ones by her side on Thursday May 27, 2021. She was born May 1, 1924 in Portland, the daughter of the late John Francis and Helen Frances (Enos) Johnson.

Mary was a life-long resident of Portland, and a graduate of Portland High School. A quiet blue-eyed Irish girl from the West End who met the love of her life and best friend, an Italian boy with a mischievous grin from Federal Street at the Italian Bazaar in the summer of 1941. Mary and the late James Vincent Pellegrino were wed at St. Dominic’s Cathedral on Easter Monday April 22, 1946, and were married for 51 years. Together they raised three children on Sheridan Street and later in East Deering.

Mary worked for Morse, Payson, and Noyes Insurance until her official retirement in 1989 and later helped out with office work for her nephew’s business, Warm at Last.

She was a longtime parishioner of St Pius X Church. Throughout her life her faith was incredibly important to her, with the clicking of her rosary beads a familiar sound as she prayed often to her namesake the Virgin Mary. She loved and treasured her family deeply and her Sunday dinners and spaghetti sauce were the glue that held the family together.

For the last 20 years Mary was a resident of the Northfield Green Community where she enjoyed friendships, trips, community meals, and of course beano. She was an avid reader, and loved her crossword puzzles and soap operas.

In addition to her parents and husband, she is predeceased by her daughter, Katherine Marie Frank; her sister, Eleanor Claire Hellen; and her nephew Mark Joseph Hellen.

She leaves behind her son, Martin Pellegrino and his wife Denise of Holden, Mass., her daughter, Ann New and her husband David of Steep Falls, a son-in-law, Karl Frank of Gorham; and a niece, Margaret Sylvester and her husband Paul of Portland. She also leaves behind five grandchildren, Jason New and his wife Len of Naples, Joshua New and his wife Angie of Tucson, Ariz., Ian Frank and his wife Caitlin of Freeport, Elise Frank and her partner Angel Matos of Miami, and Andrea Lloyd and her husband Elijah of Worcester, Mass.; along with eight great-grandchildren, Hannah and Justus New, Jonathan, Abigail, James, and Arabella New, Beckham Frank, and Remington Lloyd; and a large and close extended family of great-nieces, nephews, and cousins who all loved and cherished our matriarch dearly.

There will be a funeral mass to celebrate Mary’s life on Friday June 11 at 11 a.m. at St. Pius X Church, 492 Ocean Ave. Portland. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery, South Portland.

To share memories of Mary or to leave the family an online condolence, please visitwww.athutchins.com.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to

St Jude Children’s Research Hospital,

501 St Jude Place,

Memphis TN, 38105.

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