Mary Gloria Hamel (formerly Meccariello), age 87, of Gilroy, California, passed away peacefully on 13
June, while holding hands with the love of her life, her husband of 63 years, Antonio (Tony) Edmond
Hamel, Sr.

Mary was born on May 11, 1933 in Yonkers, New York to Nick and Michelina Meccariello, immigrants
from the small village of Luzzano, Italy. Having an adventurous spirit, at the age of 18, she boarded a
passenger ship and sailed across the Atlantic to meet her extended family in Italy and see the land that
was deeply a part of her. A year later she repeated the trip, to study art in Florence. Mary slipped
seamlessly from Roman Italian to the local dialect, and her extended family welcomed her warmly,
referring to her as the Ricca Americana, as she treated the local children with ice cream, and worried
about their lack of shoes. (When Mary and her family visited Italy 35 years later, Mary burst into tears,
saying "The children are wearing shoes!")

That first adventure was one of many to come. She returned home and took a position at the State
Mental Hospital in Poughkeepsie, the city where she would meet a tall, dark haired, blue eyed engineer,
who had begun his career at IBM just 15 days prior. The spark was immediate and mutual. Six weeks
after they met, Tony suggested they "go see the priest", and 3 months after that first serendipitous
meeting, they were married and began 63 years of deep love, complete devotion, and family adventures
that took them across 49 states, through all the major national parks, and to many countries - all with
or without their 4 children, additional teenagers as needed, dogs, chickens or turtles. Together, Mary
and Tony raised 4 loving children and welcomed so many more into their lives and their home.

Mary completed her Master's degree in Fine Arts at San Jose State University, graduating with honors,
Phi Beta Kappa, while managing a home and raising young children. Always modest about her
accomplishments, when, at the graduation ceremony, those graduates who had earned a 4.0 GPA were
asked to stand, and Mary did, Tony tried to gently pull her back to her seat. "Didn't you know?" she
asked him, laughing at his surprise. Mary shared her love of learning with her children, ready to greet
them after school, and build on what the teacher had taught. If you learned division, she would
immediately teach you long division, as if she was letting you in on a wonderful secret. But her teaching
went beyond what could be learned in the classroom. Mary was a proponent of experiential learning
before it had a name – mama cat giving birth? snowfall in San Jose? a fieldtrip with her favorite art
teacher? These were all perfectly credible reasons for her children to miss a day of school.

Mary was an artist. She won numerous awards for her art, and the family always loved to see which
ribbon she had won at the Santa Clara County Fair. She worked in oil paints and sculpey – large
paintings and small detailed sculptures. They were beautiful in their simplicity, reflecting those things in
life that Mary valued most – family and friends playing and working - everyday activities that fill a life
and bring happiness. You could find her painting at the kitchen table, a child posing on top, as Mary got
a particular form right, or pulling the small sculpey figures out of the oven. Even Mary's art was a family
event – her husband patiently and skillfully built her frames and canvases, her children were her models
or assistants. And when Mary and Tony decided to build a gift for the neighborhood – a 40 foot
Halloween dragon with wings that flapped, a mobile neck that brought the head down to child-height, a
mouth that opened to release smoke, and eyes that glowed red, Mary made the dragon beautiful with
translucent wings and twinkling lights, Tony built the frame and set the wiring, Tony Jr. ran the control
board, and the whole family – children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and many friends over many
years, joined in to jump out of hay stacks, scream from a dungeon, and add to the thrill for the
thousands who came to be part of the Hamel family fun.

Perhaps most striking was Mary's generosity – both materially and in spirit. She was very proud of her
husband and his work at IBM – and realized their family was more fortunate than many. If she found
someone needed help or just a place to stay, she and Tony would offer themselves and their home,
whether it was welcoming our 4 th sister, Della into our family; or offering a safe place (indefinitely) to a
young woman living on the street. Mary understood that the Hamel family had enough to share. Her
Sunday Italian meals are legendary, remembered fondly by family, friends and anyone living on Bela
Drive.

Mary created a home filled with love, music, and laughter for her husband and bambini, encouraging
them with "a little bit of culture" and reminding them to always have "duganza" (dugazione). Through
her kindness and openness, she lived the life her Catholic Faith intended. These are some of the things
her children remember Mary teaching through the way she lived her life:

• Fill your life by opening your heart up fully, and welcoming people in with trust. Be kind and
  generous; make the world a better place through your actions and interactions with those
  around you
• Observe the art all around you - in the joy of your children skating, the commitment of your
  husband building your canvases after a long day at work, the beauty of your teacher and mentor
  creating his art, and the comedy of your Beautiful white cat sleeping on his back in a suitcase.
  The joy that makes up your life is worthy of Art
• Always hold hands with your husband, wink to him in the rear-view mirror, and hide from him in
  the pantry once in a while
• If you find an animal that is hurt, bring it in, nurture it (cotton wool in a box near the stove for
  warmth, and if needed, a dropper with milk is helpful), heal it, raise it with love, make it strong,
  let it go. This works with people too
• If you make a big Sunday Italian dinner, and open your doors, your neighbors, and friends, and
  children's friends will come. And your house will be loud and filled with laughter, and your life
  will be full

Mary is survived by her husband, Antonio; her daughter Lisa Plumb (husband Brad); her daughter, Sylvia
Fischer (husband John [Deceased]); her son Antonio Hamel Jr. (wife Lani); daughter Mary Jean Hamel
(husband Danny Feikin); 14 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her siblings, Pasquale "Patsy" Meccariello; Palma (husband Pedro) Esteves;
Giacomo "Jack" (wife Ann) Meccariello; Costantino "Gus" (wife Angie) Meccariello; Nicola "Nick" (wife
Charlotte) Meccariello; and Giorgio "Lindy" (wife Doris) Meccariello.

Do to the current circumstances around the COVID-19 Pandemic, the funeral services will be private. A
celebration of life will be planned for May 2021.

The family asks that any donations in Mary's memory to go to Maryknoll Society a charity that was dear
to her heart for their work to improve the lives of the poor throughout the world.