Mary Frances Conte

Mary Frances (Votano) Conte passed away gently and peacefully in her home on August 29, 2025, just 2 ½ weeks shy of her 104th Birthday. Her last days were filled with the love of so many family members and friends who were able to visit her, pray with her, and prepare her spirit for eternal life.

Mary was a native of San Jose, who grew up when the region was world renowned as the “Valley of Heart’s Delight,” a name coined to describe the fragrant Santa Clara Valley floor, blanketed with apricot, cherry, and prune orchards. Mary, along with her siblings, joined her family in some of those orchards, picking prunes and cutting apricots during harvest seasons. Mary attended Grant Grammer School and San Jose High School. While in High School, she met her future husband, Dominic Conte, at a rival baseball game she attended against Santa Clara High.

Mary Votano married Dominic Conte on March 27, 1943. Soon after their marriage, Dominic deployed to the war in the Pacific. Mary then became a wartime bride, being separated from the love of her life, for three and a half years.

Following Dominics’ return from the war, he and Mary bought a surplus housing barracks in Stockton. Together, they disassembled it by hand and transported the lumber via the old roads to the lot that would become their family home. The name of the housing tract off from Hamilton Avenue was called Cherry Acres. There were still orchards surrounding the area.

On March 27, 2019, Dominic and Mary celebrated 76 years of marriage. They had an extraordinary relationship, defined by love, respect, compromise, and their common love for having fun. Together, they built a beautiful family and created many wonderful memories that spanned three generations.

Mary worked as a young woman for two local candy makers, Schurra’s Candies, and Pulleys Candies before moving into food services at Campbell Unified School District’s, Leigh High School. After her retirement, Mary continued her life of service by volunteering at Martha’s Kitchen, a food outreach program through Sacred Heart Church in San Jose.

At Martha’s Kitchen along with other volunteers, she made hundreds of sandwiches a day, serving those in her community. Mary’s primary reason for being there was to help others who were less fortunate and to help make a difference in someone’s life. Volunteering at Martha's Kitchen was the most rewarding experience and she loved doing it.

Coming from an Italian immigrant family, Mom always said that ‘family was everything.’ As the fifth child of six siblings, Mary demonstrated her leadership abilities at an early age. Mary was the organizer, the problem solver, and the one person that you could always confide in. For both of her families, the Votano’s and Contes, she was the go-to person.

Mary was there for the good times and the bad times. In sickness and in health, she tended to brothers, sisters, in-laws, nieces and nephews.

Mary exercised and lived her principle that ‘family is everything.’ At her 100th Birthday celebration, Mary spoke beautiful and touching words, about the importance of family, about forgiving and loving each other.

Mary and Dominic were world class dancers in their day, and they could clear a dance floor wherever they went. Their favorite weekend stomping ground was Villa Felice, listening to their good friend and band leader, Mike Mello.

Mary loved to cook. She could make a tasty meal with whatever was on hand. She was a great collector of recipes from magazines and newspapers. She would collect and write recipes by hand and in detail. She would come back from her world travels, especially from Italy, and make all the different pastas, sauces, soups, and desserts.

So many wonderful and memorable moments with family and friends, either crammed around the kitchen table or around the beautifully set table in the dining room, eating lovingly prepared food by Mom.

The neighborhood kids loved to eat at the Contes. They knew where to get a good Italian meal.

When both Dominic and Mary semi-retired, they began their many travels. They travelled through the US multiple times, exploring and discovering new routes and new sites on every trip. After seeing much of our country, they ventured abroad, experiencing life in Europe, China, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. Of course, Italy was where their heart landed: and where they connected with members of both their families.

Mary is survived by sons Richard (Sharron) and Fran (Erin); three loving grandchildren, Mario (Holly), Anthony (Ana), Natalie (Josh), six beautiful great grandchildren; Nicholas, Dominic, Rosie, Violet, Gabriel and Beau; and a host of multiple generations of faithfully devoted nieces and nephews.

Mary is preceded in death by her husband Dominic Conte, mother Rose Votano, brothers Benny and Rocky, and sisters Rose, Micky, and Angie.

We wish to express our deepest gratitude and recognition to both our parents’ caregivers, Esper Reyes, Karen Pagute, Jade Mayer, and Kristine Pagute. Spanning the course of 10 years, they were devoted to our mother and treated her with the most tender and loving care. It was their meticulous care that added years to our mother’s life, giving us many more beautiful memories with her.

A viewing and rosary will be held Thursday, October 16, 2025, from 4:00pm to 8:00pm, at Lima Family Santa Clara Mortuary, 466 North Winchester Blvd. Santa Clara, CA 95050.

Funeral Services will be held on Friday, October 17, 2025, at 10:30am at St. Christopher Catholic Church, 2278 Booksin Ave., San Jose, CA 95125.

Internment for family and those who wish to attend will be at 12:30pm. at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery, 490 Lincoln St., Santa Clara, CA 95050.