Marion Murphy Di Filippo's Obituary
Marion (Sandy) Di Filippo died peacefully on Tuesday after a short illness. She was born on November 24, 1925 on a houseboat in Clarendon, Arkansas. She grew up as a rice farmer’s daughter, the eldest of seven. She entered the Coast Guard when she was 17 and began her service as a teletype operator. She met her husband, Louis Di Filippo, in Washington D.C. and they were married in 1946. They were married until his death in 1997.
After they married, Sandy and Louis lived primarily in the DC area with a five-year stint in Berlin, Germany. In 1967, they bought a farm in Lucketts and lived there until 1993 when they moved to Ocean Pines, MD. Marion recently returned to Lucketts to reside with her daughter, Catherine.
Marion was a stay-at-home mom, but she was very active in the community. She was instrumental in bringing the Little League to Lucketts; was an original organizer for the Lucketts Fair; and wrote the column “Out Lucketts Way” for the Loudoun Times Mirror for years. In the early 80’s she began working for the FAA in Leesburg as a teletype operator, and soon became a Flight Service Specialist. She worked in that capacity until her retirement in 1995.
She was Catholic and felt and lived her faith deeply. She loved to travel especially to the beach, to read, and do crossword puzzles. She was an artist and an environmentalist. She also loved children and babies. She always had a garden and saw beauty in nature everywhere. She was kind and thoughtful and treated everyone as a child of Jesus. She always said she had a terrible temper, but she rarely got mad though she’d fight “like the devil” for what she felt was right and especially for those who were less fortunate. The world will never be the same without her and we miss her terribly.
She was preceded in death by numerous family members including her husband, Louis, her two infant daughters, Alice and Angela, and her grandson, Gabriel. She is survived by eight of her children: John (Nancy) of San Diego, CA; Mary Jo Betson of Rohrersville, MD; Thomas (Susan) of Arlington, VA; Catherine Di Filippo-Perry (George) of Lucketts, VA; David (Colleen) of Raleigh, NC; Thea Custer (Kevin) of Leesburg, VA; Margaret Clair (Jeff) of Faber, VA; and Patricia Di Filippo (Pablo Minervini) of Frederick, MD. She also leaves 23 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at noon on Wednesday, February 19th at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church in Leesburg. She will be interred at Arlington Cemetery with her husband as befits a World War II Veteran.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to Birthright of Leesburg 16 Royal Street SE, Leesburg, Virginia, 20175, 703-777-7272 or at www.birthrightofloudoun.com
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