Cecile “Ceil” Courville died February 26 at a long-term care facility near her home in Riverhead, after suffering a stroke in January. She was 82 and the former owner of the Old Post House Inne. At her bedside was her husband of 60 years, Edward; and her son, Mark, and his wife, Patti.
Cecile May Madaio was born the youngest of nine children in Worchester, Massachusetts, to Margaret and Pasquale “Patsy” Madaio. She married Edward Courville when she was 22 and soon after relocated to Little Silver, New Jersey, for her husband’s job with the Bell Telephone Company. After 10 years of marriage they adopted two children and eventually moved to Upper Montclair, New Jersey, where they forged a lifelong bond with friends Peter and Bonnie Merkel and their two children, David and Renee. They moved to Glen Ridge, where they remained until 1984, and after both children graduated from Glen Ridge High School, Mr. Courville retired (the first time) from his executive job on Wall Street with AT&T.
The couple traveled the New England states the following year seeking a bed and breakfast business venture and decided on the Hamptons, where they bought and restored the three-century-old historic “Old Post House Inne” and restaurant in the Village of Southampton. They had the distinction of successfully renovating and operating their quaint accommodations business in a historic landmark building in the business community until selling in 1999, when they retired permanently.
On September 13, 2013, the Courvilles celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.
Ms. Courville is predeceased by a daughter, Janine Talmage of Riverhead, who died in 2013. In addition to her husband, Ed, and son, Mark and wife Patti, she is survived by her two grandchildren, Taylor Talmage and Clayton Talmage; and brother-in-law, James Courville and wife Joan of Massachusetts. She is predeceased by all her siblings, Frank, Joseph, Nancy, Helen, Anthony, Philip, George and Ralph “Buddy,” most of whom remained in Massachusetts.
Funeral services were held on March 2 at the Alexander Tuthill Funeral Home in Wading River. Burial was at Calverton National Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to St. John the Baptist Church, 1488 North Country Road, Wading River, NY 11792.
on Mar 3, 2014