Aida M. (DiLoreto) DiPasquale

Aida M. DiPasquale passed away peacefully after a prolonged illness at her home in Hingham, MA on Sunday, October 3, 2021 surrounded by her five children. She is predeceased by her beloved husband, David M. DiPasquale.

With characteristic equanimity and grace, she spent her four years of widowhood engaged in a wide variety of activities that delighted her mind and body, foremost among them travels to Italy and Alaska, as well as the meticulous tending of her garden and the preparing of extravagant Sunday dinners for family and friends. Dignified and selfless to the end, she showered all those who knew her well with a maternal love that is a joy to recall and an immortal gift.

Aida Maria Giovina DiLoreto was born on May 10, 1937 in Arielli, Italy. The small town in the central Italian Province of Chieti was heavily bombed by Allied forces during the Second World War due to its strategic importance situated between the powerful Allied and Axis armed divisions. Experiencing many such raids herself, Aida would know intimately from a very early age the tragic costs of war as she, along with her family, sought desperate refuge in northern towns that could supply them with the most basic food and shelter.

In May of 1950, Aida and her mother, Anna, reluctantly agreed to board the MS Vulcania for the cross-Atlantic voyage to Ellis Island; she was especially heartbroken to leave behind her beloved grandfather, Israele Villante.  There, Aida was reunited with her father Antonio, who escorted his wife and daughter to the American life he had been creating for them in Milford, MA. Although the transition to life in a new country was difficult as both she and her mother did not speak English, her progress was so efficient that she completed eight grades in only two years and graduated from Milford High School with distinction in 1957. She then went on to attend Emmanuel College in Boston where she graduated with a degree in biology in 1961, and in 1963 received her Master's Degree in Education from Boston University.   That same year she secured a scientific research position at the Harvard University School of Medicine. This was followed by teaching positions in the biology departments at Bay Path Junior College in Longmeadow, MA and Massasoit Community College in Brockton, MA

Professional ambitions did, however, quickly and enthusiastically give way to dreams of marriage and motherhood when during this period she serendipitously met David DiPasquale at a baptism in Detroit, MI; they were wed in 1967 in Milford, MA. Resolved not to force any child of hers to endure (as she had) the loneliness of being an only child, she and her husband had five children during their first six years of marriage. Calling St. Clair Shores, MI their first home, they then moved to Grosse Pointe Woods, MI as the family and its needs grew. Fourteen years of dedicated service as a teacher in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools System allowed her the opportunity both to assist the educational maturation of her children and, at the same time, to recover her earlier professional passion. In 2003, three years after the couple retired from their respective professional commitments, they moved to Cohasset, MA and then later to Hingham.

Aida was delighted to entertain her thirteen adoring grandchildren who visited regularly and who showered her with all of the love and affection she so justly earned. Throughout her long and unusually rich life, she relentlessly dedicated herself to the protection and nurturing of that ever-growing family which would be her most enduring legacy and the source of her most profound happiness.

Aida is survived by her five children and their families: David Jr., his wife Farah and their two children of Medford, MA; Anthony, his wife Fariha and their three children of Hinsdale, IL; Paul, his wife Elena and their four children of San Diego, CA; Christopher of Boston, MA; and Sandra Walker, her husband Alec and their four children of Cohasset, MA.

Family and friends are invited to visiting hours on Friday, October 15, 2021 from 9-10:45 am in McNamara-Sparrell Funeral Home, 1 Summer St., Cohasset, MA., followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Anthony Church (directly across the street) at 11 am. Burial private. In lieu of flowers, donations to honor Aida may be made to the Norwell VNA and Hospice, 120 Longwater Drive, Norwell, MA. 02061. 

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