Marianne Josefine Celona

Marianne Josefine (Goetz) Celona

September 21, 1927 – December 10, 2024

On December 10, 2024, we lost our dear Mom and Oma, Marianne, to congestive heart failure in Lake Forest, CA. She lived a long, full life of 97 years.

Born in Reutlingen, Germany, Marianne’s life was defined by resilience, kindness, and a commitment to caring for others. She overcame the challenges of World War II, eventually training in home economics and apprenticed as a kindergarten teacher before emigrating to the United States in 1951. Sponsored by her uncle and aunt in Leominster, MA, Marianne embraced her new life with determination, mastering English and forging a path rooted in love and community.

Marianne met and married Peter “Pete” Celona in 1958, and together they created a family in Fitchburg, MA, raising their children, Frank and Mary Lou. She enjoyed attending family gatherings and celebrating holidays with nearby relatives. She worked at Mt. Elam Nursing Home caring for the elderly for 15 years and later at K-Mart, where her cheerful dedication earned her 14 Customer Appreciation Certificates before retiring in 1997.

In retirement, Marianne enjoyed traveling with Pete, and often with her cousin, Elfriede Cavanagh and her husband, Mike. She loved to visit her children and granddaughter in California and family in Germany. She also enjoyed gardening, canning her homegrown raspberry jam, walking and swimming. She loved NASCAR races, word puzzles, classical music, all things pasta and never turned down a good Southern Comfort Manhattan or a bowl of ice cream.

In 2013, several years after Pete passed, she moved to Irvine, CA to live with her daughter, Mary Lou. She moved to a skilled nursing facility in April 2024, for the last eight months of her life.

Marianne is survived by her children, Frank Peter Celona (Marjorie Hallstrom) and Mary Lou Celona, her granddaughter Alexandra Celona Franscell (Mike Franscell), her brother Karl Goetz (Jutta), brother-in-law Frank V. Celona, her cousin Margaret Goetz, and many nieces, nephews, and extended family across the U.S., Germany, and Switzerland. 

She was preceded in death by her husband Pete, her parents Luise and Maurus Goetz, and her sister Liese Hofman.

Calling hours will be held Friday, December 20, 2024, from  9:30 am-10:30 am in the Brandon Funeral Home, 305 Wanoosnoc Road, Fitchburg.  A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 11:00 am at  St. Anthony of Padua Church, 84 Salem Street, Fitchburg,  Burial will be at  Saint Bernard’s Cemetery, Goodrich Street, Fitchburg.

Donations in her memory may be made to: Saint Anthony's Memorial Fund: 48 Salem Street, Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

We will miss you deeply and cherish you forever. Libe fur immer Mom and Oma!

Brandon Funeral Home, 305 Wanoosnoc Road, Fitchburg is directing arrangements.

Kevin J. Mack, Walter C. Taylor and Daniel Serina Directors.