Rosemary G. Cataldo’s middle initial stands for Grace, which is ironic, since she fought her disease and lived every day with grace and dignity.
But there is a lot more to know….
Rosemary lived in Revere for 68 years. For 47 of those years she was married to her high school sweetheart, Dr. Gennaro “Sonny” Cataldo.
Rosemary loved her family and always put her family first in everything she did. She and Sonny have four children and 10 grandchildren. Each Monday night she cooked dinner for 19 people and it was the highlight of her week. Now that’s Italian!
Our mom Rosemary belonged to every group under the sun and really taught us the lesson that when you give with one hand you get with the other. Here are just a few of the organizations she belonged to:
- Revere High School Class of ‘61 Reunion Committee
- Zonta Club of Chelsea
- North Parish Quilters Guild of North Reading
- Revere Chamber of Commerce
- St Anthony's Choir
- The Red Hat Society
- The Ladies Sodality at St Anthony's Church
She also lived her life sharing pearls of wisdom. Here are some of the favorite quotes:
- OHIO: Only Handle It Once (her favorite thing to say when cleaning the house)
- The way you bend the tree is how it grows (her favorite child-rearing advice)
- I’d rather wear out than rust out (her thoughts on aging)
- Happy life, happy wife (something she reminded Sonny of often)
Through her example, we have learned so much about how a positive attitude, genuine acts of kindness and the support of dear friends and family could make a difference in someone’s life.
As her disease progressed, slowly but steadily Mom lost the things she held dear. Her daily morning walks were one of the first things she had to relinquish. For decades Mom didn’t just “walk the walk” as she put it…she would carry a trash bag to pick up trash as she walked. Every day...rain, cold or sunshine, you would find her at 6:00 a.m. with a trash bag in hand, walking her daily route and contributing to the city that she so loved, Revere, MA.
It is her exact morning walk route that we will walk together to honor all individuals and families who are fighting and have fought cancer. Rosemary used her morning walks for a productive purpose, and now we will do the same.
Rosemary did many kind gestures silently for others. One of her favorite things to do was to secretly plant the flowers at the A.C. Whelan School.
Before we walk, we will be celebrating our annual scholarship award winner and updating everyone on our Cancer Care Grant program launched in January, 2016. These awards honor your generosity and spirit as much as it honors Rosemary's!
We would never want you to walk in our shoes, but we do want you to walk with us and make a difference along the way.
We hope you will join us taking Steps4Cancer on October 15, 2016.
See you there, rain or shine….we will even give you a bag to walk with if you like.
Thank you for taking a moment to learn more about our mom, grandmother and wife Rosemary G. Cataldo.
Gennaro (Sonny), Gen, Leah, Rosette and John