Marion B. Covello Of Westhampton Beach Dies May 1

Marion B. Covello, a retired teacher with a passion for nurturing family, friendships, plants and wildlife, died Sunday, May 1, at the Kanas Center of East End Hospice on Quiogue. The cause was complications that followed a stroke she suffered at her home in Westhampton Beach, on March 23, her family said. She was 76.

Ms. Covello was a member of the Westhampton Beach Architectural Review Board. She was appointed to the board in December 2011 to fill a vacancy, and in July 2012 the Village’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to appoint her to a five-year term.

Her deep, lasting ties to the community were forged during a long career as a teacher for the Westhampton Beach Public Schools. The school district hired her on September 1, 1960, when she was just 20 years old. She started her work for the district on February 1, 1961, as an elementary school teacher, and earned tenure in March 1966. She taught kindergarten classes and numerous grades in the elementary school before her retirement in 1995.

She was a devoted beachgoer and looked forward to hosting her three grandchildren at the Swordfish Beach Club in Westhampton Beach each summer, swimming with them in the pool and taking them to play on the beach and in the ocean. She joined the club in the mid-1970s.

Ms. Covello always reached out to others, her family recalled, easily striking up conversations with people she didn’t know. This caring nature extended to wildlife and her home’s gardens, which she tended daily from spring through fall. She loved to feed and observe birds that visited her backyard over the years, keeping a small field guide in which she recorded the date that she first spotted a particular species on the property. In recent years two cats that she eventually named “M & M” made their way into her backyard and decided to stay, apparently recognizing the soft spot in her heart for animals. She fed M & M on her back porch daily, helping them through several harsh winters.

She also loved the New York Mets and the Syracuse University men’s basketball team, following each team closely throughout their respective seasons. The Mets won two World Series titles during her lifetime, and reached the series in three other seasons, but the team’s sometimes-middling fortunes could leave her exasperated. “Typical Mets,” she would sigh, yet her fandom never wavered.

She also maintained a long association with the Westhampton Beach Fire Department. Her late husband, Pascal M. Covello, known as “Pat,” served as chief of the department from 1975 to 1978, and she frequently attended the department’s dinners and other events. The department’s junior firefighters would visit Ms. Covello during holiday seasons, delivering Christmas cookies and singing carols.

Mr. Covello died on September 13, 2010. His wife served as his primary caregiver during his long illness, helping him address numerous challenges to his mobility.

The Covellos traveled extensively throughout the U.S. while their sons were young, and in later years visited the Caribbean and several countries in Europe. They particularly enjoyed journeys to the U.S. national parks, including Yosemite and Yellowstone.

Ms. Covello was an avid news consumer. She would often say that she preferred to keep up with her newspapers rather than read books. Her interest in communications stemmed from her earliest years. She would recall that as a youngster in Massapequa, she and her friends would visit a local fire station for the chance to watch television. By late 2015, she had started to use a smartphone to exchange text messages with her children and grandchildren.

She was an active member of the East End Retired Teachers Association. She also served as the treasurer for the Red Hat Divas, a local chapter of the Red Hat Society, a social organization for women who are at least 50 years old.

Born Marion Brigitte Brauner on February 5, 1940, in Johnson City, Tennessee, to German immigrants Bruno Brauner and Martha (Pieper) Brauner, her brother, Bruno, was born Febuary 9, 1934. Another of the family’s children, their first son, died in infancy. The Brauners lived in Elizabethton, Tennessee, before moving to North Carolina for a short time. The family later moved to Massapequa, where Ms. Covello grew up. Her father was employed by a family-owned freight-forwarding company in Manhattan, while her mother worked at a bakery in Massapequa.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Oswego State Teachers College in Oswego in January 1961. The school is now known as the State University of New York at Oswego.

She and Mr. Covello were married on August 27, 1961, at the Immaculate Conception Church on Quiogue. The Reverend Joseph T. Canning officiated. She lived in East Quogue prior to meeting Mr. Covello. They later lived in Westhampton and moved to Westhampton Beach in 1964.

Ms. Covello is survived by sons, Christopher Covello of Princeton, Daniel and wife Paige; and grandchildren, David, Lauren and Leo Covello, all of Massachusetts; a brother, Bruno and wife Dorothy Brauner of Silver Bay; two nieces; a nephew; and a brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Arthur and Utta Covello of New Jersey.

Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, May 4, at Follett & Werner Funeral Home in Westhampton Beach. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 5, at the Westhampton Presbyterian Church in Westhampton Beach, followed by interment at the Westhampton Cemetery and a reception at Ms. Covello’s home in Westhampton Beach.

Memorial donations may be made to East End Hospice, Box 1048, Westhampton Beach, NY, 11978, or eeh.org.