Obituary: Nappi, Laura Teresina (Colang)
Age 95
She was able to die in the home where she lived 58 years, surrounded by children and grandchildren who journeyed with her to the end with laughter, tears, food, drink, music and memories.
She had the peaceful death she deserved, thanks in large part to Hospice of Spokane.
Mom was born November 14, 1920 to Italian immigrant parents who settled in Spokane because of the railroad industry here.
She was the pampered sister of four brothers - Frank, Armand, Floyd and Elmer.
Mom’s mother died when she was 13, a tragedy that informed both her lifelong melancholy and her frequent reminders to us how lucky we were to have a mother who lasted so long.
At Havermale Junior High School, she won awards for her writing, and her gift for the written word expressed itself throughout her life in poems and exquisitely penned letters.
She graduated from North Central High School and a year later, at a Gonzaga University mixer, she was asked to dance by Joe Nappi, the son of New York Italian immigrants, attending GU on a football scholarship.
They danced to Cole Porter’s “Begin the Beguine” and it remained their song throughout their 54-year marriage.
Mom kept busy raising six kids, cooking every meal for us, keeping a spotless home and ironing for hours each week in the era before wrinkle-resistant clothes.
She embraced her role as helpmate to Dad, a busy lawyer, and she cooked her famous spaghetti dinners for all of our friends.
She was also known for her zucchini cakes, clam dip and raspberry-pear-wine-jello salad.
She first became a grandmother at 43, and she enjoyed that role, too.
In her later years, she regaled the grandchildren with stories about civilian life during World War II, including two journeys across the United States to say goodbye to her brothers before they were shipped overseas.
She sat on her suitcases, two toddlers in tow, on trains packed with soldiers.
When our dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in his early 70s, Mom took on a caregiving role and rarely complained.
She drew great support during Dad’s seven-year illness by becoming a peer counselor through Lutheran Social Services, under the mentorship of the agency’s amazing Meredith “Hogie” Scott.
A widow for 20 years, Mom survived cancer, two major strokes, a heart attack and a host of minor ailments, but she remained mentally sharp.
She was known all her life for her great physical beauty, her trademark hats and sometimes cynical sense of humor.
When asked in her last week what words of wisdom she had for the great-grandchildren, she said: “All that glitters is not gold.”
She outlived all her brothers and their wives; two sons-in-law, Pietro D’Angelo and Adam Deutsch; her companion she met in her 80s, Hollis Ladd, and her beloved friend, Peggy Swift.
In her 90s, she drew solace and great support from her surviving peer group friends - Verna Felice, Pauline Cafaro, Fran Flower - and from her younger, “old soul” friend, Bev Lacy.
For more than a decade, she spent nearly every Saturday with very close friend Margaret Force.
They drank one Platinum vodka each with their meal while watching “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
Mom is survived by her six children - Lucia D’Angelo, Joe (Mary) Nappi, Carol Lynn Deutsch, Janice Hughes, Becky (Tony Wadden) Nappi and Robert (Mariko Caffrey) Nappi; 15 grandchildren - Laura, Francesca, PJ, Mike, Lisa, Theresa, Gretchen, Joe, Matt, Nichole, Ian, Courtney, Andrew, Graham, Nicholas and the grandchildren’s spouses and kids.
Mom ended up with 28 great-grandchildren.
She is also survived by several nieces and nephews.
At Mom’s request, a private, family memorial service will be held at a later date.
Arrangements have been entrusted to: