Mary (Antonioli) Freitas

Mary passed away peacefully at her home in Petaluma on May 23, 2021 at the age of 95. She joins in heaven her husband of nearly 48 years, Joseph Perry Freitas. She was also preceded in death by her parents Lodovico Antonioli and Giovannina Simonetta; sisters Edith Straub, Jean Rehm, and brother Louie Antonioli. She was a devoted mother to JoAnn Andregg (Michael), Joseph Freitas (Barbara), Elizabeth Tennyson (David), Louise Hance (James), and Denise Cobb (Stephen); grandmother to Laura Lynch (Michael), Amber Bowman (Bobby), Gregory Tennyson (Erika), Sierra Andregg, Ellen de Senna (Mario) and Anthony Freitas; and great grandmother to Ryleigh and Makenna Bowman.

Mary’s parents came to the United States from Italy. Her father was the youngest of 14 children. Mary was born in Eureka, CA and lived in nearby Shively until she was 11 years old. The family moved from Shively in 1936 to a chicken ranch in Santa Rosa. She grew up with a strong work ethic from cleaning chicken houses to picking prunes and hops in the summer and cracking walnuts to sell to the local bakeries.

She met her future husband Joe at a dance in Cotati. He asked if he could drive her home after the dance and 8 months later they were married. They settled in Petaluma and bought a small farm. Mary stayed at home and raised their 5 children while Joe worked at the local Creamery as a lab technician. Mary could sew, knit, crochet, and needlepoint. Everyone who received anything she made would cherish it. She was an avid doll collector and a member of the local doll club. As the kids got older, she went back to work outside the home taking part time jobs as a bookkeeper.

Mary took a trip to Italy when she was 70 and met many relatives for the first time. That made her very happy and began a newfound connection for the whole family to their relatives in Italy.

Mary worked part time at the Doll Mercantile and volunteered at Alphabet Soup Thrift Store until well into her 80s.

Mary’s children and grandchildren will tell you she was a no nonsense person who wasn’t afraid to tell you what she thought but she loved her family with all her heart and was a constant, supportive, loving presence in their lives.

Donations may be made in Mary’s honor to Hospice by the Bay, 355 West Napa St., Sonoma, CA  95476; www.hospicebythebay.org

A funeral service will be held at 11 am, Friday, June 11, 2021 at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 35 Liberty St., Petaluma.

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