Write a commentMartha Marilee Iorizzo (nee Bridges) (January 16,1932-June 7, 2023) died peacefully on the 7th of June at St. Luke's Nursing Home in Oswego, New York after a visit by her loving family and husband of 71 years, Dr. Luciano J. Iorizzo, Professor Emeritus of History at the State university of New York at Oswego.
Everyone would agree that she is a model of a spiritually Christian woman who aimed to live a life of virtue for the benefit of others. She said the rosary and other prayers on arising and actively practiced her religion taking on various activities in St. Joseph's, her parish. Her selflessness, kindness, and generosity were immediately evident to all who met her. She was a devoted daughter to her parents Maude Stella Bridges (nee Limbaugh), 1902-1972 and James Dale Bridges, 1902-1984 of Scopus, Missouri.; sister to Frank (1928-1994) and Howard (19. She was aunt to John, Francis, Catherine Ann (1955-2003) and Mark from Francis and Wade, Pamela, and Derek from Howard. Marilee had five children: Luciano, Jr.(1953), Dolores Estelle (1955). James Thaddeus (1958-2014) Francis Thomas (1962) and Joseph Christopher ((1967).They produced 12 grandchildren: Vanessa, Dr. Luciano Ill, Tyler, Monica, Linus, Rinaldo Joshua, Nicole, joey, Brandon and Gavin, all Iorizzos and Peter Price. Marilee was so proud of them as well as her three great children: Daniel Luciano, Lydia Claire, and Luca Gio, aIl Iorizzos. She dedicated her life to her family and to improving the lives of all those less fortunate in the Oswego community.
For many years she was director of the American Red Cross in Oswego. She organized blood drives, trained and certified First Aid/CPR/ AED, and planned charity events. She excelled at crisis management by supervising many emergency events, day or night, assuring that victims of fire, accidents, flooding, domestic abuse, etc. would have food, shelter, clothing and tender, loving care. She also worked with Catholic Charities for many years taking young women with infants into her home who were rejected by their families. Her strong beliefs about the protection of the innocent were certified by her actions. She gave destitute young women comfort, support, and housing during their pregnancies and births. Luciano supported her completely. In essence Marilee was endlessly patient and giving like no other person on earth. She looked upon her life as an instrument of God's grace and prayed daily for guidance.
Martha Marilee was born in Kenett, Missouri during the depression, so she had a talent for living on a shoestring in a frugal way that promoted self-sufficiency. She grew up on a farm in Scopus, Missouri, Bollinger County, and was practiced in the customs of rural life making, not buying anything that was needed. Essentials were grown then canned in the summer so that her family would never be without food in the winter. She came from a family of rugged pioneers who sought religious freedom in the New World having immigrated from England and Baden-Wurttemberg Germany in the 17th and 18th centuries to Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Her ancestors were early settlers of Missouri when it was still The Louisiana Territory controlled by the Spanish and French and still considered dangerous Indian country. In the autumn of 1799, after harvesting their crops and loading all their belongings and provisions into covered wagons and oxcarts, her family were among a group of keen adventurers who set out from their farmsteads in North Carolina for the western frontier. At age 29, Col. George Frederick Bollinger (1770-1842) led a contingent of 20 families for 565 miles from Lincoln County, North Carolina through Tennessee and Kentucky towards the Mississippi River. Among the 20 families were two of her ancestors, George Frederick Limbaugh (1737-1811) and Leonard Welker (1745-1816) accompanied by their wives and children. The journey on foot took four months, making slow progress each day since they had to set up camp each night and break camp every morning. They reached the Mississippi in mid December but had to wait for two weeks to safely cross over thick ice which they did on the 31st of December 1799 at Sainte-Genevieve, founded in 1740 as the first organized European settlement west of the Mississippi.
Martha Marilee was a member of the distinguished Limbaugh family of Bollinger County whose most famous individuals included Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Sr. (1891- 1996) U.S. Attorney, US Ambassador for the U.S. legal system to India and his descendant Radio host Rush Limbaugh (1951-2021). Marilee became a member of the DAR through the Limbaugh line. She was proud to join their mission of promoting historic preservation, education and patriotism. It is with this spirit of rugged individualism and adventure so evident in her ancestors that in May 1952 at age 20, she set off for New York City alone and unchaperoned on a Greyhound Bus travelling 1000 miles to meet a man she knew briefly through a Church social in St, Louis. A gutsy move! She was wined and dined for a week, visiting sites such as the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State building, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, a Broadway show, Macy's and Gimbles, Ebbets field and Belmont racetrack. Having been swept off her feet, she had stars in her eyes. Yet, she was pragmatic as she was beautiful and did not want to waste her time on suitors who were not serious. Sitting on a Prospect Park bench she posed the question: "where do we go from here?" After a long conversation comparing future hopes and dreams she and Luciano both agreed that marriage was the best way to go.
Marilee planned everything. Having worked at St. Francis hospital in Cape Girardeau among nuns and Fr. Schoen, Marilee eventually converted to Catholicism. A week before the wedding she was baptized a Catholic. She made her first communion on her wedding day at the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in St. Louis, December 13, 1952. The ceremony was conducted by Fr. Schoen. The marriage of Marilee and Luciano was a union of true and eternal love. They shared a life on this earth for nearly 71 years. They will always and forever be together, simul semper et saecula saeculorum.
Martha Marilee had many talents. Her shyness and humility made her an unlikely public figure. Yet she gained confidence year by year by becoming an active member of Toastmasters International and was often called upon to make public speeches. She excelled as a seamstress making anything practical or theatrical born of the imagination, especially yearly Halloween costumes for friends and family. She also trained many who sought her expertise. Marilee was a dedicated member of the Oswego County Historical Society. She researched Victorian architecture and drapery before designing and then purchasing and sewing by hand detailed replicas of the original curtains in the Richardson Bates House in Oswego, a Tuscan style villa built in 1867. The drapery can still be seen today in the best intact house Museum in N. Y. State dedicated to the preservation of art, culture, education and history. Her enthusiasm for historical preservation was seen in her joining those who were instrumental in founding the H. L. White Maritime Museum in Oswego that manages and exhibits a collection of thousands of artifacts, images, archival records and original at works telling over 400 years of regional maritime history. The River Walk in downtown Oswego would never have ben actualized without the dogged effort of people like Marilee and her friends who pushed for the development of the Oswego waterfront. It now attracts many individuals from all over the nation seeking beautiful sunsets and assorted fish in its lake and river.
Martha Marilee was a lifelong JFK Democrat, active in politics in Upstate N.Y. She was moved to action by a speech given by Senator John F. Kennedy on June 3, 1957 at her husband's graduation from Syracuse University: "Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its power, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests and see whether we also in our day and in our generation may not perform something worthy to be remembered." Her father Dale Bridges extracted a single promise from her on his deathbed that she would remain a Democrat until her dying day. She was faithful to that promise.
A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 Friday, June 30th at Christ the Good Shepherd at St. Joseph’s Church in Oswego.
Burial will be in St. Peter’s Cemetery.
Calling hours will be held from 4-7pm Thursday, June 29, 2023 at the Dain-Cullinan Funeral Home, 112 East 2nd St. in Oswego
Donations can be made to the Alzheimer fund or any charity of one's choosing.
