(February 1, 1913-April 3, 2002)

GOUVERNEUR--A funeral Mass for Maria Fiacco, 89, Gouverneur, formerly of Potsdam and Norwood, will be said at noon Saturday at St. Andrew’s Church, Norwood, with the Rev. Paul F. Worczak officiating. Burial will be later this spring in Calvary Cemetery, Norwood.

Mrs. Fiacco died Wednesday in E.J. Noble Hospital, where she had been a patient since March 14.

Calling hours are from 1 to 5 and 6 to 9 p.m. today at Garner Funeral Home, Potsdam.

Mrs. Fiacco and her husband, Angelo J., owned and operated Fiacco’s Restaurant, Potsdam, for more than 46 years, from its opening on Nov. 26, 1946, until 1992.

She was a communicant of St. Mary’s Church and a member of the St. Lawrence County Restaurant Association and the Potsdam Chamber of Commerce.

Born Feb. 1, 1913, in Compatileto, Italy, daughter of Michael and Concetta Salvatore Ditomasso, she attended schools in Italy. She came to the United States in 1936 by way of Ellis Island, but settled in Montreal, Quebec, where she was a seamstress for her brother from 1936 to 1939.

She married Angelo J. "Jalop" Fiacco on Sept. 6, 1939, at Notre Dame Cathedral, Montreal. They lived in Norwood until moving to Potsdam in 1992. Mr. Fiacco died Aug. 21, 1994. Mrs. Fiacco moved to Gouverneur in 2000 to be closer to her daughters.

Surviving are a son, Michael A., Chicago, Ill.; two daughters and their husbands, Loretta E. and Abbott Leonard and Antonette F. and Thomas Cogan, all of Gouverneur; a sister, Rose Bargaletti, Montreal, nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

A son, Arduino "Artie" died in 1975. A daughter, Constance, died in 1943 at 8 months. A granddaughter died in 1970. A brother, Sam Serafino Ditomasso, also died before her.

Donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, Northern District Office, 94 E. Main St., Malone, N.Y. 12953 or to St. James Church, Main Street, Gouverneur, N.Y. 13642.

(Taken from the Friday, April 5, 2002 edition of the Watertown Daily Times, page 31).