Mary Louise (Latter) Zitani, 77, born Sept. 14, 1933, died April 19 with many of her loving family members by her side. She had lived in Port St. Lucie, Fla. with her daughter and son-in-law, Cathy and Kevin MacKenzie, for nearly 20 years.
A native of Boothbay Harbor, she was born in the colonial home connected to the regional greenhouses, dreamed of and constructed by her paternal grandparents, the late William and Marion Latter, in 1929. Mary was the daughter of William Francis (Paddy) Latter and Marion Bernice Heald Latter.
She had two vocations in her lifetime, music and nursing. Mary started singing before she could talk. At the age of four, she was in her first minstrel show at the Boothbay Harbor Opera House and became a featured act in that show for many years. Mary began taking lessons and played violin in the Boothbay Harbor High School orchestra. She and her sister, Betty, were well-known for their violin and piano duets at the Methodist Church on Townsend Avenue.
Mary followed in her mother’s footsteps and became a nurse after she moved to Connecticut. She became an LPN working at St. Francis and Hartford hospitals. Most of her nursing years were spent in nursing homes and private duty cases.
She was predeceased by her parents; husband, Christino Zitani; cousin, Richard George; and other aunts, uncles and cousins.
She is survived by her sister, Betty Longbottom of Portland; special niece, Amy L. Courville; children, Russell Henry Stodder III of Wiscasset, Cathy and husband Kevin MacKenzie and son, Christino G. Zitani and wife Kim of Port St. Lucie, Fla.; grandchildren, Erin and Jason Stodder, Shelby MacKenzie Baker and husband Michael, Michael MacKenzie and wife Dioni, Kevin MacKenzie, Sean and Matthew Zitani; and great-grandchildren, Logan Baker and Chloe Zitani.
Memorial service Sept. 10 in South Windsor, Conn.
Anyone wishing to contact the family may do so by calling Betty Longbottom, collect, at 1-207-899-3258 or by email at Bettyboop7@maine.rr.com. She will welcome hearing from you.
