Connie Fall

Constance Ann (Corthell) Fall, 86, of Jensen Beach, Florida and former long-term resident of Groveland and Haverhill MA, passed away peacefully on March 19, 2022, after a lengthy illness. Ken Theriault, her longtime companion and partner was lovingly at her side.

Constance, who went by “Connie,” was born on January 29, 1936, in Framingham, MA. After graduating from Winchester High School in 1954, she attended LaSalle College.

Connie married Albert Fallavollita while working at the Atlantic Gelatin in Stoneham, Massachusetts. They were married courtesy of the US Army, were sent to Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. After Army life, the couple moved back to Stoneham, MA where Connie had four boys in quick succession: Scott, Glenn, Brett, and Gregg. She was determined to match that long last name with short first names. All sons were given five-letter first names with double consonant endings. It was a source of speculation as to what the next children’s names might have been. She loved words.

Connie was a devoted mother who always made her young son’s birthdays special by creating “themed” homemade birthday cakes replete with gridirons, toy soldiers or Matchbox cars to celebrate whatever was important at the time. On the day one of them turned 16 and returned home from a Boy Scout trip, she blared a “45” record of Ringo Starr’s “You’re Sixteen” and serenaded him, laughing at her silliness. She loved to celebrate.

She worked part-time as a secretary for many years while her children were young, becoming a legal secretary for a local attorney. Connie advanced to the position of human resource manager for a local manufacturing company where she worked until her retirement in 2003. She employed skills honed from running a household to keep her bosses and co-workers in line. She loved to work.

Connie lost her own mother at 12-years old, and spent many years visiting the Sturbridge, MA home of her aunt and uncle with whom she was especially close. “Auntie Top & Swanee” were surrogate grandparents to her boys. Visits over the years to the 4-acre farm with a barn filled with trunks of old clothes, trinkets and treasures were the source of hours of entertainment. Connie selflessly spent every weekend in Sturbridge caring for them when they became elderly. She loved her family.

Whenever one of her sons faced trials or failure, she never stopped encouraging them to get back in the game or up off the floor. There was no quitting with Connie. She loved to persist.

She instilled the love of reading, a lifetime gift in all her boy’s lives. She taught them to be independent, resourceful, and industrious. As a Depression-era child, she was frugal and all Yankee in the best of ways.

If you asked her what her greatest accomplishment was, she would quip that it was successfully raising four sons. She was defined by her love for her children, grandchildren and one great grandchild.

She also loved clothes shopping, the New England Patriots, seafood (particularly lobster rolls), sitting poolside chatting with her Florida friends and traveling around the country and abroad. She was especially fond of coffee ice cream, hard candy, and butterscotch. She relished time during the holidays with her family, and her signature Monkey Bread recipe was a Christmastime treat.

Connie had a life-long affinity for blue. She loved looking out over the blue Atlantic Ocean as many a sunrise emerged from the sea. She baked sweet “Blueberry Supreme” desserts from wild blueberries her boys picked near the family home. Her favorite piece of jewelry was a beautiful, blue sapphire dinner ring, which was only surpassed by her sparkling and effervescent blue eyes. And one would not have to squint to see within those eyes a deep, enduring caring for her family, and the ability to look beyond the adversity of this life to a more peaceful place, which she surely sees in all its glory today.

She is survived by her sons, Scott (Mary) Fallavollita, Glenn Fallavollita, Brett (Laura) Fallavollita and Gregg (Stacey) Fallavollita in addition to her grandchildren, Laura, Mark, John, Julie; Samantha and Matthew; Westley, David and Rachel; and Levi. She also leaves her long-time, faithful companion Kenneth Theriault, whose nightly ice cream treat will never be the same.

Her final resting place will be in Sturbridge, MA.