Maria Dantini, 85, of New Canaan, Ct. passed away on April 1st, 2023 during recovery from emergency surgery a month prior.  

Maria was born on April 13, 1937, to Maria and Luigi Casatelli, in Ausonia, Italy. She went to the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Piano with the nuns from primary to the end of high school. She was one of six siblings; Guiseppina (d), Pasquale (d), Palmino (d), Elvio (d), Marcello. Their father was taken and died in Germany towards the end of WW2. Together as a family, they worked hard to reestablish what they lost during the war.

She met her future husband, Pietro Dantini, while he was on vacation in Italy. She married him in 1960. She arrived in the United States on the Christophoro Columbo ship in 1962 and started a new life with him.

She had her first born, Peter Jr. Followed six years later by her daughter, Marylisa.

Maria worked closely with her husband in his endeavors to provide landscaping and build homes. When she started her business, Stamford Marble Imports, her husband supported her wholly in her goals. She devoted countless hours to make the stone business succeed. She was an independent and strong businesswoman, in many ways ahead of her time. She worked six days a week until the end. She embodied the “American Dream” fully--an immigrant with a work ethic that wouldn’t quit.

Maria never retired. She wanted to go back to work even in the hospital. “I have a business to run,” she exclaimed, while hooked up to IV’s.

She wanted to make her mark on the world. She was a proud woman. Stubborn. Fierce. A fiery mix of sheer will and force of character.

Her hobbies were gardening, sewing, embroidery, and spending time outdoors. She loved her grandchildren and dearly missed her husband.

She is predeceased by her husband, Pietro Dantini, who passed in 2008 and four of her six siblings. She is survived by her children, Peter Dantini Jr. and his wife, Parie, of New Canaan; his children, Peter H., and William; and her daughter, Marylisa Sullivan and her husband, Brian, of Wilton, and their child, Michael Peter. She is survived by her youngest brother in Italy, Marcello Casatelli.

Wake will be held at Hoyt Funeral Home in New Canaan on Thursday, April 6th from 4-8 pm. The funeral memorial is on Good Friday at 10 am at St. Aloysius church in New Canaan. The internment will follow at Lakeview Cemetery in New Canaan.

She lived a good life and will be remembered with love and compassion.