Mary Jepeal

Mary Jepeal, 86, of Tariffville, Old Saybrook and Hartford, beloved wife of the late Henry Jepeal died peacefully on November 12, 2015, at Hartford Hospital. Mary, born March 3, 1929, was the only child of Angelina (Infante) and Dominic Corona. Mary lived her early years in a large, Italian, extended family in the Southend of Hartford. She attended Buckley High graduating in 1947, fell in love with Henry and as she loved to say, "The Rest is History". Mary was Henry's partner and soul mate in a 62 year marriage that ended with Henry's death in 2012. She was devoted not only to her husband but also to her six children, moving the family to Simsbury in 1955 because she wanted better schools for the constantly expanding Jepeal family. Mary ran the household for over 20 years, did all of the financial planning, sewed her own clothes, raised the 6 children and made time to celebrate all of the holiday traditions of her Italian and Henry's Ukrainian heritage. In addition to valuing education, she instilled in her children an appreciation of that heritage, the struggles of their immigrant grandparents and an undying love for her country. She spent the next 22 years in a successful career as Office Manager spending most of those years at Universal Design in Hartford. Mary and Henry truly enjoyed their life together. They loved the beach house in Old Saybrook especially loved being on their boat with their children. Mary loved to travel and Henry loved sports so they combined those hobbies and spent many years following UCONN sports, traveling with the teams, going to Red Sox games and when they finally decided to retire, spent 8 weeks going to every Major League baseball park in the USA and Canada. Mary also lived out her dream of going to Italy to see the birthplace of her mother and grandparents. Mary and Henry were honored by the Ukrainian National Home of Hartford for over 50 years of volunteer service. Mary was smart, industrious, hard working and had a very competitive streak. She loved to play games of any kind and in her later years you could find her playing cribbage with Henry. In early 2012, Mary and Henry moved their home to Avery Heights in Hartford and after Henry died in late spring, she devoted her energy and time adding to her hobbies by volunteering at the library, playing cards with different groups and even learned to compete at Wii bowling. Mary leaves, to mourn her passing, her children: Karen Landsberg and partner Robert Tetrault, Westbrook; Susan Jepeal, Tariffville; Michael Jepeal, Sr., Tariffville; Peter Jepeal and wife Karen, Melbourne Beach, FL; Andrew Jepeal and wife Lisa, North Billerica, MA; and James Jepeal and wife Joanne Gundersen, East Granby and her seven beloved grandchildren : Michael Jepeal, Jr., Jonathan Landsberg and wife Stephanie, Daniel Jepeal, Nicole Jepeal, Eric Jepeal, Steven Jepeal, and Kevin Jepeal, numerous nieces and nephews, her many bingo friends and her friends at Avery Heights. A celebration of Mary's life will be held on Saturday, November 21, 2015. The family will have visiting hours at 1:00 p.m. with a memorial service at 2:00 p.m. at the Molloy Funeral Home,906 Farmington Avenue, West Hartford, CT, followed by burial in St. John the Baptist Cemetery in Glastonbury. A reception will follow at the Ukrainian National Home, 961 Wethersfield Avenue, Hartford. If you would like to honor Mary by making a donation in lieu of flowers, please do so to The Wounded Warrior Project, 4899 Belfort Road, Suite 300, Jacksonville, FL 32256. Maple Hill Chapels/Talarski Funeral Home has care of arrangements.