Olga Carito
Olga F. (DiIanni) Carito of Watertown and Boothbay Harbor, Maine died on January 27, 2017 at the age of 88.
Olga was born in Boston in the Italian community of the North End. She entered elementary school only speaking Italian, but went on to graduate from Girls’ High School and Emmanuel College.
After graduating from college, Olga became a “computer” at MIT where she led a team of mathematicians, many, women, working on the calculations for scientific experiments. One day they took her team to the auditorium and demonstrated their project: what was to later become the laser.
Then she met the love of her life, her “Bill.” They had six kids. While Olga was at home, she found the time to be very active in her favorite organization, the Watertown League of Women Voters. She supported her local PTA, and sold Avon products to earn a little extra money.
After her eldest graduated from high school, Olga turned a temporary substitute teaching position into a 22 career teaching mathematics at Watertown High School in Watertown. She also taught at Northeastern University. She took night school classes to get her teaching certificate and secure the position. Later she received a National Science Foundation grant to fund her return to Boston College where she earned a Master’s in Mathematics at the age of 52.
Olga loved her students. Many, to this day, fondly remember “H Block,” those long afternoons when she devoted countless hours to providing extra help after school She liked nothing better than introducing them to the beauty of math in everyday life.
In 1988, Olga found herself touring through Maine with a friend, winding up their day at a bed and breakfast in Boothbay Harbor. When she heard the owner and his guests commiserating about him putting the place up for sale, she looked around and announced, “I’ll buy it.” She did and she opened her doors in 1989. Being the owner and hostess of The Seafarer Inn was the business she was born to run.
Endlessly charming, a lover of people, and proud of her hearty breakfast, Olga entertained countless visitors, most of whom refused to depart without a hug and a kiss. She was active in the Rotary Club and proud to participate in the Maine Women’s Network for women owned businesses. She was a devoted member of Our Lady Queen of Peace Church where she sang in the choir.
After her health declined, Olga moved back to the Boston area where she loved to spend time with her family, grandkids, and her Kaluki playing friends. Summers were devoted to returning to Boothbay Harbor where she could sit on the broad front porch of her home on Union Street and watch the comings and goings in the beautiful harbor.
Olga loved beauty of all kinds – particularly music, art, and flowers. She sang throughout the day and in church choirs, was fond of many styles of art, and she always maintained large gardens. She had a great love for history and books and current events, spending many hours watching Book Talk and congressional hearings on C-Span. She was a wicked Scrabble player and an ardent Democrat. She loved her church, had her own special relationship with Jesus Christ, and was particularly devoted to the Blessed Mother.
Olga was the beloved wife of the late William A. Carito; loving daughter of the late Joseph and Katherine (Gennazzi) DiIanni; devoted mother of William and his wife, Barbara Ross, Maria Kent, and her husband John Kent, John, and his wife, Heather Mick-Carito, Roseanne Taylor, Francis, and his wife Maryann Mulligan, and Carl, and his wife, Eliana Carito.
Also, she was dearly loved by her grandchildren, Robert, Katharine, Alexander, Hilary, Genevieve, Emily, Daniel, Breno, and Christelle. She was Great-grandmother of Viola Jane Carito. Olga was pre-deceased by her grandson, Brendan Mick-Carito and her son-in- law, Mark Taylor.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017 at 11 a.m. in St. Patrick Church, 212 Main St., Watertown. Visitation is from 10 to 11 in the Church prior to the Mass.
Relatives & friends are kindly invited. Burial will be at Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Visiting hours in the MacDonald, Rockwell & MacDonald Funeral Home 270 Main St., Watertown will be on Thursday, Feb. 2, 4-8 p.m. Memorials in Olga’s memory may be made to Catholic TV, 34 Chestnut Street, Watertown, MA.