Marie Stella Corso

Marie Stella Napolitano was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1921 of immigrant parents from Naples and from Apollosa, Italy, outside of Naples. Her mother, Rose Fierro, came to America as an infant with her older sisters and parents. Marie’s father, Pellegrino Napolitano, left his native home with his brothers leaving no male members of his family to carry on his name in his native town. Today, there’s no one left to ask how Marie’s parents met, as much of that immigrant generation has been lost to posterity— an important reason to talk to older family members about their history before they're gone.

Maria's parents made repeated moves when she was young, and as family income improved, they eventually owned a three story house in Flatbush, a few blocks from the last stop on the No. 1 subway and three blocks from Brooklyn College.

Marie was the oldest of four children - two brothers and a sister - and so had to be the responsible one, herding her siblings around to the movies, on the subway and to Coney Island. When Marie was still young, her mother Rose took on the care of her four orphaned brothers. Rose’s mother died during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, and her father later was killed in a tragic railroad accident. Marie’s increased responsibilities given the addition of her uncles into the family home were most likely good training for her married life which found her taking care of her two boys while her husband, always upwardly mobile, would look increasingly for better jobs, one of which in pharmaceutical sales with Cyanamid led him to be gone a few days a week.

Marie’s two brothers served during World War II. Her brother Carmine was part of the invasion on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and was awarded The Bronze Star. Her brother Anthony served with the Navy during the Pacific combat. Her sister Helen worked in The Bank of Brooklyn and married an Irishman who was a Merchant Marine and later a bank executive.

Marie met Frank Corso in Tilden High School in Italian class, and they remained close through graduation. They were at Brooklyn College when Frank was drafted, becoming a chemist in the Army. Marie and Frank were married in 1945, and their first son, Mark, came along in 1947. Their bungalow in the Bronx was becoming too cramped when their second son, Gregory, was born in 1951, so like many Italian families the four Corso’s moved into the first floor of Marie’s parents’ two-family Brooklyn house, with her parents on the second floor and her three siblings in the bedrooms upstairs. This living arrangement brought a cohesion to this Italian family that was special to that time. In addition, with many cousins and close extended family members—and the two first grandchildren—the house became the focal point for holiday celebrations and gatherings. So it was traumatic when Frank got a new job, requiring his family to move to Connecticut; it was as if a rift was taking them halfway around the world. In actuality, it meant a lot more driving for Frank as his family still returned to Brooklyn to participate in all of Marie’s family's functions as well as Frank’s, sometimes splitting the day between the two sets of grandparents.

Frank’s work subsequently relocated him to several places in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Long Island and New Jersey, requiring Marie to be flexible, rising to the challenge of setting up home in diverse and usually well-worn houses.

When Frank found his niche as a research and development chemist with Colgate Palmolive in Piscataway, New Jersey, the family found a quiet rental house and settled in Bridgewater. Marie, with a strong urge for learning, decided to return to finish college and commuted to Newark State College—now Kean—to earn a teaching degree. She’ll never forget how the registrar tried to dissuade her from becoming a full-time student—“but you have two young children at home”—which probably gave her more incentive. She graduated in 1965 with her teaching certification, in unison with her older son graduating high school and younger son eighth grade. Marie found a job in Hillsborough teaching fifth grade but after a few years she noticed that lots of children were reading below grade level. That spurred her on to go back to Newark State to gain a remedial reading certification. Hillsborough immediately placed her as a remedial reading teacher, but in order to serve the needs of the district, she had to be in three different schools each day. As the school population grew, she found her home in Woodfern School.

While all this was going on—Marie at Woodfern, Frank working in Piscataway, and her sons in school in Bridgewater—the urge to own a home remained strong, so for many years, weekends were spent “house-hunting.” Looking for the antithesis of Brooklyn—property somewhat isolated, wooded with quiet and privacy—Marie and Frank never found a house that exactly fit their desires. So, when a piece of property became available in Ringoes, they “bit the bullet”, and after many long years of renting, decided to build their own home. Merging plans from a few different homes, they designed the house they wanted. While building the house required the work of many contractors, the primary construction—framing, sheet-rocking, stairs, detailing—was done by Marie’s younger brother Anthony with son Greg as Anthony’s right-hand man.

From sun up to sun down they worked, and in 1967 the Corso family officially moved into their own home, after 22 years of marriage.

After 25 years of teaching, Marie joined her husband in retirement in 1990. And now they could “scratch that itch” and travel to Italy: all the well-known and lesser known places such as her father’s birth place, Puccini’s birthplace, Sicily, and Cinque Terre.

With Frank’s love of and fluency with the Italian language, it allowed them to stay in little hotels, hostels, and even covent’s which offered rooms. It also gave them opportunity to connect with Frank’s cousins in Parma, an extended family who owned a pharmacy and lived in an ancient part of the city. Marie and Frank were never happier than when they were in Italy.

On other occasions, they also joined with a college professor who invited them to help chaperone his students on trips during spring break, which afforded them an opportunity to see Paris, Netherlands, Carcassonne, cities in Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.

Life at home was enriching as well. Joining the Italian American Heritage Club of Hunterdon County afforded Marie and Frank the opportunity to mingle with others of Italian descent, sharing experiences with neighbors who became one big family. They worked a booth at the 4-H fair for the club and helped at the golf outings. Frank got joy out of playing Santa Claus at the club’s Christmas party. Marie especially was proud to work with the committee judging the essays for the high school scholarships, which one year were given out in Frank’s honor. Frank and Marie also made monthly trips to the Dorothea House in Princeton, which featured various and sundry talks, songs, and food of Italian culture.

Family achievements brought a great deal of pride to the Corso home. Their older son, Mark, attained a PhD in school psychology from Fordham University in Lincoln Center in 1987. He worked for 36 years in Old Bridge Schools as a school psychologist, as well as taught as an adjunct professor of Psychology at Middlesex County College for 50 semesters. Their younger son Greg graduated from Howard University Dental School. He has practiced dentistry in Nutley, New Jersey, since 1981, and has been recognized by the The Italian Tribune for his business and community involvement.

Greg’s wife, Paula Bonavita, manages the dental practice.

A highlight of Marie and Frank’s family celebrations was their party for their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1995. At a rustic inn in the middle of Montclair, family and friends from Brooklyn, Long Island, Massachusetts, and various parts of New Jersey all convened to join in the festivities. It was a beautiful, memorable event. To further honor their years together, Marie and Frank renewed their vows at the Cathedral of St Francis of Assisi in the Diocese of Metuchen. Not long after Frank’s untimely death from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in May of 2001, Marie contracted bronchitis. A routine X-ray revealed lung cancer. The tumor, and a third of her right lung, were removed successfully at Sloan Kettering (NYC), and no additional treatment was needed.

Upon her recovery, Marie continued to travel with her son Mark. In Greece, she walked the Acropolis, sailed to Patmos, explored Corinth and Ephesus (Turkey), and stayed on the island of Santorini. She and Mark also traveled to Naples as well as to Ireland and England.

Since the 2001 death of her husband, Marie stubbornly determined to remain in her own home, weathering squirrels in the basement, bats in the ceiling, power-outages — some lasting for weeks — floods in the basement, snow drifts too high to walk through, and fallen trees across her long driveway. Managing through all of these experiences, Marie showed herself to be an independent woman of indomitable spirit, with the resilience to thrive for 104 years.

The last of her generation, Marie was predeceased by her husband of 56 years, Frank P. Corso, who died in 2001; as well as her siblings, Anthony Napolitano, Carl Napolitano, and Helen Cox.

Surviving are her sons, Dr. Mark Corso, of New Brunswick, NJ, and Dr. Gregory Corso, and his wife, Paula Bonavita, of Montclair, NJ; as well as family friend, Dr. Susan Huslage, also of New Brunswick, NJ. Additionally, she is survived by nieces and nephews, and her four dedicated caregivers: Sandra Langlais-Shillingford, Andrea Cerrato, Suzanne Snyder, and Christiane Chandonnet; and finally her physical therapist, Sandra Wass.

A Mass of Christian Burial, celebrated by Father Randy Espinoza, will take place on Monday, February 3, 2025 at 10:00 AM in St. Magdalen de Pazzi Roman Catholic Church, 105 Mine Street, Flemington, NJ. Entombment with her late husband will follow in St. Magdalen Mausoleum, North Main Street, Flemington, NJ. Calling hours will be from 2:00-4:00 PM on Sunday, February 2, 2025 at the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in her memory may be made to the Amwell Valley Ambulance Corps, PO Box 147, Ringoes, NJ 08551 or by clicking the link below.

For further information or to send an online condolence, please visit her memorial page and guestbook below at www.holcombefisher.com.