Obituary of Marie O'Donnell

Marie O’Donnell passed away peacefully at Heart to Heart Hospice on Monday, May 24, at the age of 83 and went to be with her Lord and beloved husband, Raymond. Born in the Bronx in 1937, Marie was the youngest of Leonardo and Carmela Cammalleri‘s three children. She graduated from James Monroe High School and later worked for a publishing house in New York.In 1957, she and Raymond met on a blind date, but she always claimed she knew they’d get married on their second date when he slipped and fell while trying to free his car from the snow and — instead of attempting to play it off — got up laughing hysterically at himself. They wed the next year and raised their two sons, Michael and Len, in New Jersey before moving to a house they built in Maryland that looked out over the Chesapeake Bay, which in those days was still filled to the brim with blue crabs that often wound up in the traps floating off their dock and were, to the enjoyment of many, later steamed in the traditional Maryland fashion. They lived there happily until Raymond’s passing in 2001.Over the past two decades, Marie lived in both Easton, Maryland, and Fort Worth. Upon moving back to Texas in 2019, she enjoyed her involvement at Holy Family Catholic Church. She was a devoted Eucharistic Minister, a diligent member of the Art and Environment Committee, and an active member of a vibrant Stewardship discussion group. Marie was young at heart, and she was determined to stay active and involved in life for as long as the Lord gave her the strength.Marie was a lifelong fan of Elvis Presley and Lucille Ball, had a wonderful collection of glass and ceramic elephants that her friends and family sent her from all over the world, and was always a phone call away; she enjoyed talking to her grandchildren whenever she could, staying in touch with her sister-in-law Louise, and dialing up her many friends in New Jersey, Maryland, Fort Worth if she couldn’t make time to meet them for a good lunch. She will be lovingly remembered by Michael and Len, daughters-in-law, Norma and Theresa, grandchildren, Kaitlin, Camille, Tim, and Lucas, grandsons-in-law, Matt and Edward, and her great-grandson, James.