BUNNELL, LUCY SANTUCCI

On Sunday November 10, 2019, Lucy (Lucia Santucci) Bunnell passed away peacefully at home with her loving children at her side. Lucia was born in Rome, Italy, on December 8, 1930, the daughter of Maurizio and Linda (Cavallini) Santucci. She was predeceased by her husband, Wesley C. Bunnell, Jr. Together, they raised two sons and three daughters. Lucia was a strict believer in the importance of education, which she passed onto her children. Later in life, she would earn an undergraduate degree in dietary technology from Gateway Community College. She was employed by the Hospital of Saint Raphael for many years as a dietitian technician. Lucia tended to characterize her wartime childhood as traumatic yet enjoyable. She was in Rome during the bombings of WWII, in which her brother was killed by the Nazis. She derived pleasure by reminiscing how she would often be scolded by the priests for running up “Scala Sancta.” “Rome was my playground,” she would utter with the pride of a seven-generation Transtiberine. Lucia had a passion for the arts, having studied ballet. No wonder she counted Degas’s ballerine as her favorite paintings. Her enthusiasm for sculpture and architecture, in tours to the Vatican, and beyond her native Lazio, in Pisa, Florence, Naples and Capri, her children will always treasure. She loved all genres of music and enjoyed attending Broadway musicals. Lucia also loved to travel and recently went back to her home in Via Appia Antica, and also made time to visit Buenos Aires, Argentina. She especially cherished her visits to St. Petersburg and Provincetown. As a fervent Democrat, she counted as one of her blessings having been a guest to President Clinton’s inauguration. Lucia approached Vice-President Al Gore and said, “Oh my God, you’re gorgeous!” eliciting laughter even from the secret service. She had a strong character and taught her children to “never accept ‘no’ as an answer. “She also encouraged her children to “love people who are different”: diversity was a guiding principle for her. In her final years, Lucia was tenderly cared for by her beloved daughter, Ruth. Ruth sacrificed her life to make sure Lucia was well treated and loved. She is survived by her children: Dr. Maurice E. Bunnell and Dr. J. L. Speranza; Rhonda and Edward Marshall; Linda and Henry Buonforte, Jr.; Ruth E. Bunnell-DeBille; and Wesley C. Bunnell, III. Fifteen grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren also survive her.

Visiting hours will be held Thursday evening from 4:007:00 in the Iovanne Funeral Home, Inc., 11 Wooster Place in New Haven. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday morning at 10:00 in St. Michael Church. Entombment will follow in All Saints Mausoleum. In lieu of flowers, you may contribute to the Nursing Program at Southern Connecticut State University, by mailing your memorial gift to: SCSU Foundation Office, OB1, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515. Checks should read “SCSU Foundation” with “SCSUF-Annual Nursing Program” listed in the memo. Share a memory and sign Lucy’s guest book online at

www.iovanne.com