Mary D'Antonio

Mary D’Antonio (Maria Belcastro) of Pittsburgh, PA, passed away in her sleep at her daughter’s home in Los Angeles, CA, at the age of 108.  Mary was preceded in death by her husband Luigi (Lou) D’Antonio, her parents Saverio (Sam) Belcastro and Serafina (Sarah) Mosca, her younger brothers Sam (Salvatore), Patrick (Pasquale), and Anthony (Tonino) Belcastro, and very dear cousins Rosa Mannarino and Dorothy (Fortunata) Minutolo Duffy.   

Mary was born November 3, 1915, in San Giovanni in Fiore, Calabria, Italy where she was known as Mariuzza.  She remembered the flu pandemic of 1918 and a hundred years later witnessed the COVID pandemic, without becoming ill either.   With her mother and two younger brothers, she emigrated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1927 to reunite with her father, who earlier had relocated to the United States after having been a prisoner of war in Austria.  She attended St. Peter’s Catholic Grade School, Business High School, Fifth Avenue High School, and earned a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Pittsburgh, graduating cum laude, and later an M.A. in Italian Language and Literature, also from the University of Pittsburgh.  She was active in the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Dante Alighieri Society, and she had a variety of metaphysical interests including Edgar Cayce’s A.R.E., the Ministry of Kathryn Kuhlman, Unity, and The Pittsburgh New Church.

Mary started her work life typing the first batch of Social Security cards.  She soon married Lou D’Antonio of Teramo, Abruzzo, Italy, who came to the United States on his own in 1920 to work for relatives in Haverford, PA.  Mary and Lou met as labor union advocates, and in the late 1930s they formed Visual Art Films, a business to provide films and audio-visual equipment to schools, churches, home use, and occasionally theaters. Beginning in 1951 their business was located in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh in a building built circa 1850, which also was their home.  Often customers became friends, and the site was a magnet for interesting people who liked films, conversation, and Luigi’s cooking.

Mary published a short story Out of the Kitchen based on her own evasion of an arranged marriage, which she wrote while pregnant with her one child, Joanne. Mary became a widow in 1959 and closed the family business to become a teacher for shorthand, typing and eventually Italian, which she taught at Ambridge High School, and at the Pittsburgh Public School’s Adult Education program.  Ever the teacher, near the time of her death, Mary could be heard still conducting Italian classes in her sleep!

The poet Rina Ferrarelli wrote a poem about Mary entitled “Visiting a Paesana in Oakland” published in 2012 in her collection The Bread We Ate.  Mary was a child of the Great Depression, and the poem depicts her as an adult who collects and keeps track of piles of possessions.

Mary truly valued friends and family, and many have cited her generous help with navigating the system to solve immigration and housing issues.  Mary’s passion involved harnessing her creative writing talent to type very long memoir letters to friends and family recounting family history and experiences laced with her philosophical thoughts.  Over the years she was a fan of Edward R. Murrow’s See It Now, Firing Line with both William F. Buckley and Margaret Hoover, and Democracy Now with Amy Goodman.  In her last years, she continuously watched news programs, as she said, “to stay in the world.”  In her hundredth year, she traveled with her daughter’s family to Italy, and the photo with this obituary was taken in the Rome airport, where the customs agent cheered, “Cent anno, cent anno!” welcoming back this dual citizen centenarian to her homeland.

She is survived by her daughter, retired film editor Joanne D’Antonio, and beloved son-in-law, retired sound editor Robert Kizer, both whom cared for her until her death.  She held dear her grandson Christopher Kizer of Durham, NC, brother Frank Belcastro and wife Joan Belcastro of Dubuque, IA,  her sister-in-law Hanna Belcastro of West Lafayette IN, niece Helen Belcastro of Fremont, CA, nephew Paul Belcastro of Bloomington, IN, niece Sarah-Marie Belcastro of Philadelphia, PA, cousin Ralph Falbo of Pittsburgh, the Mannarino cousins Antonia, Giovanni with wife Peggy and their sons Eric and Ian, Giulia with husband Ron Teska, their son Jacob and daughter Jessie with her daughters Kadence and Harper, the Duffy cousins Suzy, Roger, Diane, Charlie, John, and Chrissy with husband Pat, who gave advice when she experienced falls, and their children William, Sophia and Andrew, plus many family members in Calgary and Italy.

At Mary’s request there was no funeral or memorial.  She did not want flowers and did not seek gifts or masses in her name.  She treasured the many friends she had over the years and would like those who are still alive to join her daughter as a guest for lunch or dinner when possible either in Pittsburgh or Los Angeles.

Online condolences may be made at NaturalGraceFunerals.com.

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