Lucy Grater (Battistello), 100, died on May 20, 2023, at her home amongst family and the supportive community of Heatherwood Gracious Living and Retirement Center, located in Tewkesbury, MA. Lucy was known for her warm-hearted, unassuming nature. Her strength of mind was second to none. A product of the American dream, she overcame the adversity of immigration when she arrived by ship from Italy at the age of seven. Until her final days, she never lost her sense of humor and love of family. She touched the lives of those who knew her but briefly with her decency, generosity of spirit and resiliency.
Born in Salcedo, Vicenza, Italy in 1922, Lucy (Lucia) was one of seven children of Marco and Lucia Battistello (Dal Ponte). She emigrated from the port of Trieste to New York in 1928, embarking on the MS Vulcania, along with her parents and four of her siblings, Tony, Andrew, Agnes and Mary (Sartori). Another sister, Ortensia (Poletto) and her children would follow in the 1950s while another sister, Gina (Zanetti) would remain in Italy. She was a next-door neighbor of her future husband, Otto Grater. Little did she know that she would marry him after World War II on May 3, 1947.
Lucy grew up on Robinson Street in Hudson, NY and was a parishioner at Mt. Carmel Church and later at St. Mary’s Church in Hudson. Her family moved from Hudson to nearby Claverack in 1951 where she lived on Route 9H across from the fire house and then on Brookbound Lane until she moved to Massachusetts to be closer to family where she remained until her passing. She and her husband owned Grater’s Eskimo Bar for several years. Although she has been widowed since 1986, her loving memories of her life with her husband Otto remained with her throughout her life.
Lucy will always be in the thoughts and hearts of her children Mark and his wife Kathy of Mystic, CT, Otto and his wife Pearlan of North Reading, MA and Jean and her husband Roger (Goldsmith) of Billerica, MA. She leaves six grandchildren, Rebekka, Joanna, Patrick, Michael, Tim and John, seven great grandchildren, Ashley, Charlotte, Gus, Charlie, George, Caleb and Jack, as well as many nieces and nephews, all of whom she loved dearly. In addition to her beloved husband Otto, she joins many departed loved ones, including her sisters Mary, Ortensia, Agnes and Gina and her two brothers Tony and Andrew.
A celebratory mass will be held at Saint Mary's Church, in Hudson, New York on Saturday, May 27 at 10:00 am followed by a burial at Cedar Park Cemetery.