WAYLAND: Paula M. (Finan) Yamartino, 92, passed away peacefully Wednesday, May 19, 2021, at her home in Wayland, surrounded by people who loved her very much.
Paula was born January 15, 1929, in Boston to the late Ernest and Katherine (MacDougall) Finan, formerly of Waltham, where she grew up. She graduated from Waltham High School in 1947, after which she took a job with the local telephone company as an operator. In 1950, she fell in love with Raymond Yamartino, also of Waltham. They were married on September 21, 1951, and thus began a journey together that spanned more than 60 years and resulted in a family to which she devoted every day of the rest of her life. She had a magical touch and took great joy with new babies. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were an endless source of pure joy right up to her final days.
Paula possessed a curious mind, easy grace, a generous spirit, and a deep sense of devotion to the people she loved. She was always one of the most informed people in the room, on any subject imaginable. This made her everyone’s first choice as a teammate in Trivial Pursuit. But most people who knew her will always remember her kind, sometimes silly, sense of humor and her easy, warm laughter. You could always count on conversations with Paula to eventually end up in fits of laughter. She had an unshakeable sense of the things in life that mattered most and she lived her life accordingly. Paula was well-loved by so many and in her final weeks, the love that she spent her entire life showering on people came flowing back to her like a mighty river to buoy her spirits and help usher her along to her reunion with her late husband Ray. Those of us who may have inherited even a small measure of these dear qualities are all the better for it.
She is survived by her children Jeanne Yamartino-Samari of Honolulu, Hawaii, Bill Yamartino and Lois Siska of Westbrook, Maine, David and Soraya Yamartino of Guam, Tom Yamartino of Wayland, Stephen and Carol Yamartino of Hingham, Richard and Louisa Yamartino of Concord, John and Andrea Yamartino of Mountain View, CA, and Julie (Yamartino) and Geoff Grace of Grafton. She is also survived by her 20 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her husband of more than 60 years Raymond L. Yamartino of Waltham. Also predeceased by her brother, Ernest Finan, and sisters Elizabeth (Finan) Juliano and Jeanne (Finan) Healy.
There will be walk-through visitations from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday May 23, 2021 at the John C. Bryant Funeral Home, 56 Pemberton Road (off Rte. 30), Wayland.
Family and friends are invited to go directly to her funeral mass at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, May 24, 2021 at the Good Shepherd Parish at St. Ann Church, 124 Cochituate Road (Rte. 27), Wayland.
Interment will follow in the Yamartino family plot in North Cemetery, Wayland.
In lieu of flowers, her family suggests that memorial gifts in Paula’s memory be sent to the Perkins School for the Blind at www.perkins.org.