Marie Avelar Rosati October 28, 1922 – October 17, 2014

 Visitation will be on Thursday, October 23rd, 2014, from 1:00 to 5:00 P.M., at Grunnagle-Ament-Nelson Funeral Home, 870 San Benito Street. A funeral mass will be offered the same day at 7:00 P.M., at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on 5th and College Streets. Private entombment will take place at 11:00 A.M., on Friday, October 24th, 2014, at Calvary Cemetery.  Contributions are preferred to Sacred Heart School or to the donor’s favorite charity. Condolences can be left at www.grunnagle.com.
 Marie Avelar Rosati passed away peacefully at Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital as a result of complications from pneumonia on October 17th, 2014, just days before her 92nd birthday.
 Born to Joe and Lucy Avelar in Salinas, Marie was the third of four children who attended the local grammar and high schools there, including Salinas Junior College, now Hartnell. Upon graduation, she worked as an executive secretary at Fort Ord for a number of years.
 It was at a 1939 Portuguese Celebration (Festa) in Santa Cruz where she met Joe Rosati. The two were married in 1943 during World War II, while Joe was still in the service and they began their life together on Santa Catalina Island, where he was stationed.
 After the war ended, Joe and Marie moved to Hollister, where they opened a pharmacy and raised four children as Marie balanced her roles as wife, mother, business woman and friend to many.
 Marie led an active life that included her work as owner of Penny Wise Drug, Mission Sundries in San Juan Bautista, Penny Wise Sunset Pharmacy and as co-owner of R & R Pharmacy (Rosati & Reinhardt) in Castroville.
 She was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church and in recent years, Immaculate Conception Church, and she was also a charter member and past-president of the Young Ladies Institute (Y.L.I.).
 Marie was an avid Bridge player, enjoyed dancing, even belonging to a local dance club for a time, and played the occasional round of golf.
 Whenever she and Joe entertained at home, party-goers often gathered around her at the piano and sang the night away. Her passion for music was also expressed through her talent for playing the organ.
 As a member of the Sacred Heart Church Choir, she served as its organist and director and in 1997, was recognized by Pope John Paul II for fifty years of dedication and service to the church.
 She and her husband, Joe, celebrated 60 years of marriage until his death in 2003. Also preceding her in death, were sisters, Kathleen Minhoto and Thelma Dekum.
 Marie is survived by her children, Joan, Stephen (Betty), Jeanne, John (Marlene); granddaughters, Danielle and Jessica; her brother Ernest Avelar (Lou), sisters-in-law, Aurelia Bozzo, Louise Rosati, and Carolina Marcus and numerous nieces and nephews.
 The family would like to express their deepest gratitude to Marie’s caregivers, Delinda Sandoval, Susana Reetam, Toni Barajas, and Christina Albright and to the doctors and nursing staff of Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital.