Norma Ellen Marcellino of Brewster died peacefully at The Terraces in Orleans on Good Friday, March 29, 2024, with her children close by. She had fought a short battle with advanced ovarian cancer after living a full life. She was 81.
The daughter of the late Sebastian and Helen Puzzo, Norma was born on Aug. 14, 1942 in Hartford, Conn., where she grew up. The oldest of three, Norma “carried the mantel of the older sister,” said her daughter, Sara. “She was a straight-A student and set the example for her siblings to look up to.”
Norma graduated from Hartford Public High School in 1960 and earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and teacher education at Albertus Magnus College, where she was valedictorian in 1964. Her first teaching job was at Bulkeley High School in Hartford.
She met Joseph Marcellino at a social event for recent college graduates sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Hartford. They married in 1966 and settled in Newington, where Norma accepted a job at the high school.
While teaching full-time, Norma studied for her master’s degree in mathematics, which she received from Trinity College in 1968.
Norma took a job at Windsor High School in 1973, in part, Sara said, “because she did not want to be the high school math teacher in the school her children would attend.” That move led to a distinguished 29-year career. Respected both by students and by colleagues, Norma became department head, a position she held for many years, and founded the Environmental Club at Windsor High.
When her grandson Leo was born in August 2004, she did not return to school that September. “She wanted to devote herself to being a grandmother,” said Sara. She moved to Eastham to be near her daughter and grandchildren.
Norma had developed a love for the Outer Cape while vacationing at Mayo Beach in Wellfleet with her young family in the late 1970s. She saved her money and was able to purchase the cottage on Great Pond Road in Eastham that became the retirement home where she hosted family reunions, celebrations, meetings, meals, and parties.
In retirement, Norma was an in-demand substitute math teacher for many years at Nauset Regional High School, where she also tutored students for the required state tests. She spent several decades volunteering with the Friends of the Eastham Library, including nine years as an elected trustee; she was a key leader in the conceptualization, fundraising, and execution of Eastham’s beautiful new library.
She supported other causes as well, including making sandwiches for the participants in the annual multiple sclerosis ride.
Norma loved reading and book clubs, singing alto with the Outer Cape Chorale, spending time with friends, watching movies and her beloved Boston Red Sox, and enjoying the bay beaches and kettle ponds. She was in great demand for trivia teams.
Norma drew people together wherever she went and always cared about others before her own needs. Her family and friends remember her love of laughter, enhanced by her quick mind, sharp eye, and keen memory for details.
Norma is survived by her children, David Marcellino of Harwich and Sara Marcellino of Albany, Calif; her grandchildren, Leo Johnson and Dexter Johnson; her son-in-law, Doug Johnson; her sister and brother-in-law, Paula and John Quigley of Niantic, Conn.; her former husband, Joseph Marcellino of Melbourne, Fla.; and many nephews and cousins and their families.
She was predeceased by her brother, Philip, and her close friend Dick Pandora.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Norma’s memory can be made to the Friends of the Eastham Library P.O. Box 1025, Eastham 02642.
A celebration of Norma’s life is being planned for early fall 2024, with details to be announced.
