Obituary of Mary F. Molfetta

A Funeral Mass will be held at 11:30 AM, Tuesday at St. Anthony of Padua Church, East Northport. Interment will follow in Holy Rood Cemetery, Westbury.

To view the Mass as it happens you can go to masslivestream.com/churches/saintanthonyofpadua. 

Mary Molfetta, 87 years old, born and raised on Long Island, passed away peacefully on January 13, 2021. Mary is survived by her husband William Molfetta of 65 years, her children Karen (Tony) Lopez, Joseph (Donna) Molfetta, Stephen Molfetta and Kenneth (Janene) Molfetta. Her grandchildren, Kristen (Andrew)Murphy, Edward Molfetta, Casey Molfetta, Mathew Molfetta and Stephen Molfetta and her great grand child, Fallon Murphy. Mary is predeceased by her parents Edmund and Karolina Fuchs and her loving brother Emil Fuchs and loving sister Cecilia Fuchs.

Mary was a resident of Commack, New York for 63 years and taught piano privately to hundreds of students over the years, locally including Northport. Mary studied piano under German concert pianist Gertrude Barry who fled Germany as the Nazi’s were coming to power. Mary prepared many of her students for NYSSMA as well as the Guild. Several of her students went on to pursue successful careers in teaching and performance. Mary loved music, which was imparted to her by her family, especially her father’s family and her father who played the violin. She often spoke about the large family gatherings around the holidays at her modest childhood home in Garden City Park that her father assisted in building. Mary described how the home would be overflowing with family and music was always part of those celebrations. She was a parishioner at Saint Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church and prior to that Christ the King in Commack and Saint Hedwig in Floral Park . God and family were central to her life. It brought her great joy to pass on her family traditions to her children and grandchildren. Mary attended the Immaculate Conception High School in Lodi New Jersey for a year while her mother was recovering from illness. This experience had a profound impact on her spirituality and her life. Mary graduated from Sewanhaka High School in 1951.

Mary had a deep Love for the United States of America. Love of country was instilled by her parents who Immigrated from Poland with a few dollars and through manual labor and perseverance were able to provide for their family and achieve the American Dream of home ownership. The home still remains in the family to this day. Mary worked tirelessly to ensure her children were educated. The family often joked, she had a degree in Finance due to all the assistance she provided her sons while they were in college researching companies, mutual funds, stocks and writing papers.

When Mary’s five grandchildren were born she assisted with their child care, which gave her great joy and satisfaction. Mary, also known as, “Baby Bear” by her grandchildren continued to teach piano into her mid seventies. As she was winding down her teaching career, her last students included her grandchildren and their first cousin Katie from Kings Park. Mary played the piano for the last time on May 15, 2019; however, she continued to enjoy listening to classical piano in her home over the last year.