Mary Ellen "Nini" Cardella, 95, of Rose Manor, Pittsfield, died Wednesday, November 28, 2012, at Mt. Greylock Extended Care Facility where she had resided one week.
Born in Richmond on September 7, 1917, a daughter of Anthony and Anna Pieropan Santolin, she was a graduate of North Adams and Connecticut schools.
Mrs. Cardella was a homemaker. From 1968 to 1977, she was the Executive
Housekeeper at Blantyre.
She was a communicant of St. Charles Church and had been a communicant of the former St. Mary the Morning Star Church.
She enjoyed cooking, sewing and embroidery, gardening, and reading, as well as
spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Her husband, Frank J. Cardella, whom she married October 16, 1935, in Middleton, New York, died June 16, 1961.
Mrs. Cardella is survived by three daughters, Elizabeth A. Larcombe and her husband, William, Patricia L. Hall and her husband, Milton, and Josephine N. Buzzanco and her husband, Angelo, all of Pittsfield; a brother, Reno Santolin of Lee; as well as twelve grandchildren, Ray (Nancy) Pierson, M.D., Mark (Juraye) Pierson, Karen (Dennis) Lafave, Michael (Donna) Hall, Maryellen (Peter) Liccardi, Daniel (Theresa)
Hall, Frank (Linda) Leskovitz, Timothy (Pamela) Leskovitz, Joseph Leskovitz, Alex
(Jennifer) McNulty, Nancy (Michael) Weber, and Steve Buzzanco, and twenty three
great grandchildren and one great great granddaughter; and several nieces and nephews.
She was pre-deceased by two brothers, Peter Santolin and Lazzro Digger Buffis,
and three sisters, Marget Santolin Flotat, Edith Santolin Royer, Lena Santolin Consolati Brighenti.

FUNERAL NOTICE: Funeral services for Mary Ellen "Nini" Cardella will be held Saturday, December
1, with a Liturgy of Christian Burial at 9:00 a.m., at St. Charles Church. Burial will follow in St. Joseph's Cemetery. Calling hours will precede the service from 8:00 to
8:45 a.m, at the Church. In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Mrs. Cardella may be made to St. Charles Church, The Salvation Army, or to Elder Services of Berkshire County, all in care of DERY Funeral Home, 54 Bradford Street, Pittsfield.