Lynne Marie Bartolotta Gagliola, age 71, of Orange, CT, departed the earthly realm surrounded by her wide circle of loved ones, friends and family, on the morning of October 4, 2024, after a prolonged illness.
She was the beloved wife of forty-eight years to Lucian R. Gagliola.Lynne grew up in Ansonia, CT daughter of Lillian Aleskewich Bartolotta of Orange and the late Louis Salvatore Bartolotta. She was baptized into the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, but was raised in the Roman Catholic faith, which she held for the duration of her life after attending St. Joseph’s Elementary School in Ansonia, CT.
Lynne graduated from Ansonia High School and attended Quinnipiac University where she attained her Batchelor’s degree in Physical Therapy from the first graduating class with the program. She later graduated SCSU with a Master’s degree in Public Health. She was employed as a physical therapist, working with ACES and later for the Shelton Public School system.
Lynne worked with special needs and disabled children from Kindergarten through High School. She excelled in this field due to her great love for her fellow person and their overall well-being. She retired in 2017 after lengthy service in helping others. However, she did not slow down after retirement. She extended a loving and helping hand to all in need in her large family and close and wide circle of friends.
She showed true Christian love in all she did and never ceased in her commitment to help and serve others. Lynne kept three things close to her heart, faith, family, and friends. She loved God and others and would often drop everything to help friends or family, and remained involved in the lives of everyone she held dear.
She had a strong and giving heart and always cared for others. In the days and weeks before her passing she was regularly visited by friends and family, so regularly and frequently that her elder son, Lucian, quipped that the next guest would be the fire marshal. At the end, Lynne was supported, loved, and cared for to a level that mere words in a newspaper cannot adequately express.
However, this writer, among others, express with 100% confidence that she knew it.Lynne enjoyed many things including exercise, socializing, travelling, and spending time with family and friends.
In her lifetime she visited five countries and much of the United States. Lynne enjoyed alpine skiing in the winter as well as tennis in the summer, and had taken up golf in 2021, after a lengthy interest, and showed strong motivation and progress. She enjoyed going for walks and bicycling, and helped keep her family engaged and upbeat during the COVID-19 lockdowns as well as during many other challenges. Lynne loved taking the train into New York City, loving the city and all it offered from sites, to shows, to museums, to food, and loved Grand Central Terminal as among her favorite locations in the metropolis.
However, she would be just as happy on a quiet mountain in Vermont or anywhere else, as she brought merriment with her wherever she had gone.
In addition to her husband Lucian and mother Lillian, she leaves to cherish her memory, sons, Lucian Charles Gagliola of Orange, and Jordan Louis Gagliola of Ansonia, as well as several nieces, nephews, cousins, countless friends and pet French bulldog, Dolce.
On Friday, October 11, 2024, relatives, and friends may visit with the family in Holy Infant Church, 450 Racebrook Road in Orange, CT beginning at 8:15 am, and all are invited to attend her Mass of Christian Burial at 9:00 am. Entombment will immediately follow in Mt. St. Peter’s Mausoleum in Derby. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Lynne’s memory may be made to Autism Services & Resources Connecticut at www.ct.-asrc.org or Connecticut Hospice at www.hospice.com.
The SPINELLI-RICCIUTI FUNERAL HOME, 62 Beaver Street in Ansonia has been privileged with the arrangements. To sign Lynne’s guestbook or share a memory, please visit, www.spinelliricciutifh.com.
