Amelia Vuolo

Amelia Vuolo was born to Joseph and Eleanor Casino in Linden, New Jersey on March 25, 1923. The eldest of three children and the only daughter, Amy grew up in the warm embrace of a large extended Italian family, consisting of aunts and uncles and dozens of cousins.  At 5’ 8” and confident, she worried about dating someone tall enough so that she could wear heels. However, none of that mattered when she met the love of her life, Arthur Vuolo, 5’9” in the summer of 1942 through mutual friends. Married on June 13, 1944, Art and Amy first lived with the extended Vuolo clan before moving to Key West, and then returning to New Jersey, where their three boys were born. Finally, after moving to Detroit for a job with General Motors, a daughter joined the family and with four pre-schoolers, Amy was a very busy homemaker. In an era of “stay-at-home” moms, a woman with talent and a need for socializing, Amy livened up her life with outside interests like selling Beauty Counselor make-up, floor-care products, and working as a make-up artist for the University of Michigan School of Music. The move to Michigan also added pounds to her statuesque frame, so Amy joined Weight Watchers, where she achieved an astounding record of the largest number of 100 pound losers during her ten-year career as a lecturer . Inspirational and compassionate, Amy also taught Yoga and performed in numerous Ann Arbor Civic Theater productions, in addition being the heart and soul of the make-up crew. She won “Best Supporting Actress” for a 1972 performance of “Barefoot in the Park.”

Amy loved to travel and whenever she completed a trip, she composed a written record so that others could share her enthusiasm and experiences: Rome, Greece, Hawaii, the Holy Land, Medjugorje and of course, all around our great country. Her greatest joys, however, came from being with family and friends. Spending time at the Jersey shore, cooking, eating, laughing and playing—all are rich memories woven into the fabric of our family. Food, truly a central player in an Italian family, remains part of her rich and lasting legacy.

Her dearest cousin Jacqueline preceded her in death, yet left a warm tribute behind:

You have lovingly shared

-      My days of joy and days of sorrow,

-      Days of triumph and days of tragedy

-      Of exhilaration and of depression

-      Of soaring laughter and wrenching tears

-      Of the gift of good health and the worry of illness   

So many people could say these same words to Amy, who showed incredible resilience and an indomitable spirit. She encouraged, cajoled, cheered and wept with such an array of people over the years. Many of them are in heaven, eagerly welcoming her home. There will undoubtedly be incredible singing, dancing and lots of music wherever she is, because she was the song that we all hummed in her presence.

As Amy’s mind began to deceive her, confusing and changing the world she knew, it became clear that a move would place her close to two of her children in Bellingham. Her family hoped that being close by would allow for better care and provide more comfort than could be achieved in Nevada. However, leaving Boulder City in summer 2013 proved more challenging than anyone expected.  This was a community where Amy and Art had taken root and flourished.                                                                                                          Tap dancing, grocery shopping for the home bound (dream job for the “Grocery Queen”), volunteering, and a deep and abiding faith community at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church, nourished and sustained them, while living a distance from their children.

Our ultimate destination is, of course, nowhere to be found on an atlas. We are called to be home with our Creator and, for people of faith, death is not an ending, but a transition, a doorway into a new life. Amy was always clear on how much she looked forward to entering into this next and final chapter. Yes, she will be missed and her indomitable spirit and positive attitude will live on in the lives she has nurtured along her life journey.

Her brother Joe preceded her in death in 2008, but her younger brother Nick (wife Ann) and his children are mourning their loss from their home in FL.  Left to contemplate how best to emulate this remarkable, dynamic and deeply spiritual person are her four children:

Art, Jr of Novi, Michigan, Wayne (wife Nanette) of Venice, Florida, John (wife Sandra) of Bellingham and Trish Navarre of Whatcom County. In addition, she will watch from heaven as her grandchildren Thad, Naomi and Nick Vuolo, Seth and Kate Navarre, David Wade and Antonio Glover, and great-grandchildren Kira, Julia, Jake, Eric, Holly, Duncan, Sophia, Morgan, Alianna, Tristan and Dalton grow and mature.

As Dad said with a wave and tearful eye on the day Mom left Hospice House, “See you on the next level, A!” Yes, indeed.

When we think of those companions who traveled by our side down life’s road,

let us not say with sadness that they left us behind,

but rather say with gratitude that they were once with us.