She was born on November 27, 1926, the first child of Antonio Brunello and Giovanna Cappellari in the village of Rubbio, Provincia di Vicenza, Veneto, in the mountains of Northern Italy. She was born in her paternal grandfathers ancient stone house. The two story home was connected to a dairy barn and surrounded by green rolling hills that overlooked the valley below. On a clear day she could see all the way to Venezia from her mountain home. Here she learned how to sew, mend her own socks, and knit scarves and mittens. She grew up extremely close to her grandfather Nicolo. He was the only grandparent she ever knew as her grandmother Lucia had died before she was born and her mother had been orphaned at three years of age. One of her earliest memories was of entering the local church and fainting upon first sight of Jesus nailed to a cross above the alter.
When she was six years old she moved to her fathers newly established dairy farm just outside of Varese, Italy. By now she had a little sister and a little brother. Two more brothers would be born on the new farm. Here she learned gardening from her mother, helped her father gather hay for the dairy cows, and did all the chores of a farm girl.
In 1958 she met Glenn Ray Foster, an engineer for the Morrison-Knudsen construction company in Afghanistan. Later when he returned home in California he learned she was in San Francisco so invited her to dinner. They married in 1959 and had two children, Mary and Robert.
She worked as a telephone operator, pharmacists assistant, accountant, real estate agent, medical biller, and medical office manager. In the early 1960s she appeared with Glenn on a Jack Douglas adventure television show where they talked about their experiences in Afghanistan and showed 16mm movies. She was a skilled genealogist. In 1980 she published, "Westmoreland Ancestry: 1980 update," a follow up book to her father-in-laws, "Westmoreland Ancestry," of 1960. She enjoyed oil painting and feeding wild birds. She loved the Latin Mass and staying up late at night so she could see the Pope and watch the Mass live from the Vatican on satellite TV. One of her last projects was knitting baby booties for the Birth Center at Providence Newberg Hospital.
She was proceeded in death by her husband, Glenn; her beloved daughter, Mary Caroline Foster MD; her parents, Antonio and Giovanna; her sister, Maria; and her brother, Vittorio. She is survived by her brothers, Nicolo and Luigi; and her son, Robert.
Mass will be celebrated at 11am on Saturday July 21, 2018 at Holy Rosary Parish, Portland. She will be buried next to her beloved daughter Mary Caroline Foster at Mount Calvary Cemetery in the West Hills of Portland, Oregon. She will be greatly missed.
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