Holly Marie Mariani

Holly is survived by her husband, Nicolas Boffil; her children, Cristian Mariani, Jase Boffil and Mia Boffil; her parents, Gerald and Wendy Marie (Marratto) Mariani of Toronto, Canada; and her maternal grandmother, Barbara Marratto of Toronto, Canada. She is preceded in death by her paternal grandparents, Joe and Mary Mariani, and her maternal grandfather, Reginald Marratto.

A celebration of life memorial service will be held at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, November 6, 2013 at Gonzalez Funeral Home, 7209 N. Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33614, (813) 931-1833. Family will be receiving friends beginning at 5:30 pm.

The family wishes to express a special thank you to the staff and doctors with MICU at St. Joseph’s Hospital for their care and compassion.

Condolences may be shared with the family by visiting www.gonzalezfuneral.com.

It is with heavy and broken hearts that we share with family and friends, the very sad news that our daughter, Holly Marie Mariani has departed her earthly journey to be with her Heavenly Father. On October 29th, 2013, after delivering her third child and "fighting the good fight" for one month to the day, Holly Marie, 29, was relieved of her duties here to soar on angels wings to a loftier position. She left behind one devastated husband, Nicolas and three precious children, Cristiano Joseph, 9, Mia Angelina, 1, and Jase Angelo, one month old. Her parents, Jerry and Wendy Mariani are grief stricken as are her Grandmother, Barbara Marratto, Aunts and Uncles, Gary and Lisette Marratto, Paul Marratto, Sherry Bird, Brad Marratto and Paula Scotney and her step sister, Michelle Mariani. Cousins Sarah and Jake Zelsman and Meghan Bird are reeling in the wake of her passing. Many extended family and second aunts, uncles and cousins are in total shock. Holly's mother-in-law, Irene Cortez and her family are deeply saddened as well. She will be missed thoroughly from the bottoms of our hearts.

Holly was a daughter, a wife, a friend, a soul mate, a granddaughter, a niece, a sister and a student but her most cherished role was that of a mother. After a number of miscarriages and delivering a stillborn son, Angelo Joseph, Holly and Nick were adamant in continuing to add to their family unit. A year later, they were gifted with a beautiful and healthy daughter, Mia and less than a year later, preemie Jase arrived. Mother and Father were elated with their "perfect family".

Holly sustained many complications following Jase's birth and she did everything in her power to overcome the avalanche of problems that ensued. While walking the halls of the hospital to strengthen her lungs, her mantra to push forward was "Mia,Jase, Mia,Jase..." The Department of Infectious Diseases deemed seeing her children too risky so in her final days, she refused visitors so that she could remain focused and pushed on even harder to get healthy enough to be released before the young ones embarked on their first 'trick or treat'. To honor her, Nick and the kids participated in the family ritual of Halloween.

To say Holly was a strong woman is an understatement of epic proportion. When Holly became pregnant with Cristiano in her sophomore year at USF, she continued with a full compliment of courses as well as worked 40 hours a week at USA Baby as a Purchasing Manager. She took a semester off school to deliver the baby but made it up during night school so that she was able to graduate with her class at the end of her four year degree. She graduated with a 3.8 average, earning her a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology. She was included in the Dean's List every semester of those four years. Holly went back to work 3 weeks after Cristian was born,worked as many as 50 hours a week and still came home to watch a little Yankee baseball with her #2 man. (Derek Jeter #2)

She loved school and would have stayed a student for the rest of her life if she could have been paid to do it. She went on to get a degree from Kaiser University in Medical Billing and Coding in 2011. She followed Football and Baseball and could enter into an educated discussion on any team or player with the best of fans. In baseball, Yankees were her team of choice but she has since moved her allegiance to the Rays. For football, both Holly and Nick were "dyed in the wool" Bucs fans....win or lose. She loved music...singing it or dancing to it. She loved fast cars....and driving fast. She loved to read....murder mysteries were her fav.

Holly was smart with a wicked sense of humor, a penchant for side splitting, ear piercing laughter and no social filter. She said what was on her mind which did not always make her popular but you never wondered where you stood with her. She always supported the underdog, was geographically gifted (no g.p.s for this girl!) and punctual to a fault. She was persistent like a dog with a bone and never ever gave up. She was a country girl, hated crossing big city streets and never had the urge to stray far from home. Not a good cook by anyone's standards but really enjoyed baking, especially cookies for the kids.

Holly was our drama queen - most assuredly in the teen fad sense but also in the literal sense. She played roles such as Maria Montessori and the female lead in "Footloose" at Gaither High School. But Holly's best work played out as the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz. She could dance, sing and cackle as only the wicked witch could . She had a beautiful voice and with the aid of her voice coach, could belt out her favorite war era tunes of the forties like "Don't go sittin' under the apple tree with anyone else but me".

Holly was blessed with a creative flair. She could only draw stick people on paper but her flair for the written word could bring any picture to mind. Holly loved to write poetry from an early age and some of her offerings were quite cute. For her Grandmother's 75th birthday, she wrote and produced a rap song and dance that was performed by the grandkids. A real hit with all ages. But as time went on, Holly seemed able to really dig deep into her soul and find the right words to mirror her thoughts and feelings. I believe sometimes this was an outlet for Holly and the perfect way for her to convey her deepest heartfelt feelings to a loved one.

Holly made us all proud. She always came home with great marks and for the most part, succeeded in almost every endeavor she set out to attain. She had a very charismatic smile, could talk intelligently and from years of dealing with her dad, could debate any topic to death. As a horse woman, she did very well and we loved watching her compete. You never saw it as much while in practice but in the ring, she always dug deep. She wasn't happy til she came home with the blue ribbon.

She was frugal....bordering on cheap but extremely generous when it came to her family. Nothing was too good for them. She had an inner beauty that made makeup unnecessary and therefore, was a truly low maintenance woman of today. Very non traditional in her beliefs and always believed that less was better. She was her own fashion guru and oozed self confidence when rocking her choices. She was her own woman and was true to herself which is rare in someone so young.

The travesty here is that she never really got to play the role she thought she was best suited for- motherhood. My heart breaks... for my loss...my only baby, a friend and confidante that "gets me"...For her father who loved her so much as they were both cut from the same piece of cloth. For the lives she touched and the empty holes she is leaving in their hearts. For her babies... that they will never know the wonderful, strong and powerful woman that fought to give them life.

I'm happy for Holly now. She is stress free, pain free and free of her physical limitations. She can see all the people that made her happy and watch her babies grow. It is my solemn promise, Holly, that your children will know you from the bazillion pictures we have and the gazillion silly stories I will tell over and over until they beg me to stop. But I believe from the bottom of my heart that you are with God......and Papa, Noni, Uncle Ken, and most importantly another little baby that didn't get to know his mommy, Angelo Joseph. Give them all big kisses for me and until we meet again, I love you, soooooo much!

-Holly Marie Mariani- September 7th, 1984 - October 29th, 2013