3
trees
planted in memory of Grace Motola
Obituary for Grace Motola
Grace Motola of Pine Bush, NY, passed away on December 22, 2022 at Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown, NY. She was 93
The daughter of the late Frank Alberti and Domenica Cammarata, she was born in New York City on December 16, 1929.
As a bright and unique-minded teenager, Grace had an unmatched zest for life. She dreamed of attending college and living a free-spirited life of adventure, but her dreams were outlandish for a girl born into a traditional Sicilian family in 1929 in New York’s Lower East Side.
After both of her parents died while she was still in her teens, she was immediately forced into adulthood. She was left with a grocery store to run, a house to maintain, and a car that she didn’t know how to drive. Shortly after, she married Anthony Motola, her brother’s friend who she always loved. Five children soon followed, one terminally ill. There was no time or possibility to pursue her dreams but they remained with her and she did her best to fulfill them in whatever small ways she could.
Her life was a quest for knowledge and she remembered everything she ever learned until the day she died. She instilled a love for learning in all of her children and grandchildren. She took classes whenever she could and read everything she could get her hands on.
To her husband’s angst, she took her children all over New York City on little learning adventures: bike rides, museum visits, subway rides, and in later years, car rides.
Grace was a person in perpetual motion. She slept little and always had to be busy. Finding herself bored and sad after her youngest child started kindergarten and her brother had tragically passed away, she began to foster newborn infants. She cared for them as her own, feeding them through the night and getting up in the morning to get her own children off to school — all while still cooking wonderful meals and keeping a thoroughly sanitized home.
After her children had grown, Grace was a caregiver for her husband. A few years after his passing when she was in her 80s, she found herself with too much time on her hands so she got a job at the Orange County Historical Society. She loved it as it allowed her to learn about local history. She also began working at the Pine Bush library where she met many dear friends with whom she played Scrabble each week.
Everyone who knew Grace knew of her love for food and cooking. She could recite the ingredients of every recipe she ever made. With a discerning palate, she lived for good food. She loved a good drink and a good joke.
Grace was a big personality. Wherever she went, she knew everyone by name and they certainly knew her. She loved people.
Driving was always very important to her, as it represented freedom which she sought all her life. At 93, she still drove—even getting an occasional speeding ticket. At 92, she bought a new car—a Subaru Forester, the sport model of course.
In later years, Grace finally got to travel. She visited Italy twice with family—something she had always dreamed about.
Grace is survived by her sons, Anthony of Asheville, North Carolina, Julian and his wife Michelle of Montgomery, Steven and his companion Susan Freshko of Pine Bush; her daughter Madeline and her husband Timothy of Frankford, Delaware; grandchildren Anthony, Melissa, Alessandra, Timothy, Amy, Julian, Nicholas, Marco, Chris, and Serena; great grandchildren Keely, Gage, Madison, and William; and her dear former daughter-in-law Luz Maria.
She was predeceased by one son, Phillip and her brothers Andrew and James Alberti.
Family and friends are invited to call:
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, December 28, 2022 from 2-4 and 6-8 PM.
A Service of Remembrance will be held at the funeral home on December 29, 2022 at 10:30 AM.
Burial to follow at Orange County Veteran's Cemetery, Goshen, NY.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association.
Arrangements are under the direction of Applebee-McPhillips Funeral Home, 130 Highland Ave., Middletown, NY 10940.
To plant a tree in memory of Grace Motola, visit the Tribute Store.
Previous Events
Visitation
Wednesday
28
Dec
2:00 PM
- 4:00 PM
Applebee-McPhillips Funeral Home
130 Highland Ave.
Middletown, NY 10940
Visitation
Wednesday
28
Dec
6:00 PM
- 8:00 PM
Applebee-McPhillips Funeral Home
130 Highland Ave.
Middletown, NY 10940
Service
Thursday
29
Dec
10:30 AM
Applebee-McPhillips Funeral Home
130 Highland Ave.
Middletown, NY 10940
Graveside
Thursday
29
Dec
11:30 PM
Orange County Veterans cemetery
111 Craigville Road
Goshen, NY 10924
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