Marie S. Giambalvo

Marie S. Giambalvo, 90, of Concord, NC passed away on July 28, 2023 at her home.

She was born on November 1, 1932 to the late Joseph and Lydia Andrade in Fall River, MA.

Marie is preceded in death by her husband Charles Giambalvo, her daughter Lydia - Marie Monforte, grandson Dylan Monforte and her brother Bobby Andrade  

She is survived by her children Bruce Monforte and his Wife Missy , Eric Monforte , Sandra Monforte and her partner Bahia, Terianne Monforte -Irizarry and her husband Lou , Donna Giambalvo-Infranco and her husband Michael, Stacie Giambalvo-DeAngelo and husband; her grandchildren Lydia-Marie Washington and her husband Antonio, Eric Michael Monforte II and his wife Kristy, Ravan Norwood and her husband Ryan , Christopher Mahoney, D’Azia Giambalvo, Talia Irizarry, Nicholas Infranco , Michael Infranco, Gionni DeAngelo; her great grandchildren Tiaunna, Toni, Charlie, Wade, Alana, Lucas, Monroe, Dylann and Miles and her great-greatgrandchildren Antonio and Beleza and brother Jimmy Andrade.

Marie Giambalvo was a loving Mother and a loving Nana.

Marie moved to North Carolina from New York in 2019. She didn’t like cold weather and wanted to be in a warm climate near her children and grandchildren who were already living there. That is the one thing about Marie, she was not afraid of change. She was an easy going, go-with-the-flow type of person, and she really was except those numerous times when our brother would ask her what she wanted to eat for dinner and she would respond “I’m easy” then when he told her what he planned to cook, she would say “no, I don’t want that.” The back and forth would go on until she would finally tell him exactly what she wanted to eat and he, of course, would make it. If you knew Marie you cannot help but chuckle. She loved to cook and each one of her children had their favorite dishes, which she would prepare if she knew they were visiting. She was a very strong, independent person whose faith was unshakable.  She always knew by your voice when you were in pain and always knew the right thing to say to lift your spirits. She was really good at that. She loved the holidays, and tortured us with matching Easter outfits, made amazing Easter baskets, and tried to make us wait until New Year’s Day to play with our presents— but she settled for just arranging them under the tree.  Besides cooking and movies, one of her favorite past times was reading. To her there was nothing like a good detective novel. Of course, she was a Scorpio what do you expect? She also loved just spending time with her children and grandchildren. Just being in their presence filled her with joy. She could spend hours being pampered by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, getting her nails and hair done. No matter the outcome, she always praised them for the wonderful job they did. She was a storyteller at heart and would take whatever situation and usually retell it with a twist and make you crack up or cry as only a true storyteller can. There is a lot about Marie or Bunny (for those who called her that) that many people didn’t know. Her favorite color was green, she loved coffee ice cream, and candy bars—mostly 3 Musketeers. And we can’t forget her Boston Red Sox! That was her team, although she did love the Yankees, watched all their games, and knew every Yankee player past and present. She could go toe-to-toe and could talk baseball with the best—it wasn’t a good time to be a Met fan. She sang to her children in Portuguese. Of course, we all have our own version of the same song. One of the greatest gifts she passed on to all her children in her 90 years of living, was RESPECT. She taught us to never ever make fun of anyone and to respect all people regardless of race, religion, and abilities. Marie Giambalvo, our Mother, Mom, Mommy, Nan, Nana will be greatly missed and live forever in our hearts. 

We Little Knew

We little knew that morning,

God was going to call your name, In life we loved you dearly,

In death we do the same.

It broke our hearts to lose you,

The day God called you home.

You left us beautiful memories, Your love is still our guide,

And though we cannot see you, You are always at our side.

Our family chain is broken,

And nothing seems the same,

But as God calls us one by one, The chain will link again.