Published in the October 12, 2018 edition
MEDFORD — Alice (Powers) DeSimone, 93, a resident of Medford, passed away peacefully at home on Friday, October 5, 2018.
Alice was born in Medway, Maine, one of eight children to the late Nicholas and Stella (Lee) Powers.
Born during the Great Depression, Alice was forever shaped with the mindset of independence and hard work. She supported her young family as a hostess at Logan Airport during the time when there was only one runway and one restaurant. She then worked as a hostess on the restaurant car of the railroad between Boston and Washington, D.C. With her restaurant experience and an outgoing nature, Alice then became the head hostess of the Pillar House Restaurant in Newton where she worked for many years. Always dedicated to her family, Alice worked day shifts to be home when her daughters returned home from school. She resided with her family in Hyde Park and Newton, and later worked at Howard Johnson’s as the Head Hostess.
Alice was ahead of her time, and had a natural charm that brought people to her. In an effort to support her family, Alice shifted into working as a realtor for General Development selling residential property in Florida. Strong willed and always put together, Alice loved to work, and never stopped going.
She continued her career at All State Insurance where she became a licensed insurance broker. She then established DeSimone & Whelihan Insurance Agency which she operated in Framingham for many years. Later in her life, Alice found great happiness when she married Gino DeSimone and they lived together in Hudson and later in Chelsea.
Always open to new experiences, Alice would try anything once. She loved to travel and enjoyed trips around the world to Hong Kong, Europe, Hawaii, and Alaska. She loved dancing, and taking car trips to visit her family. As a lover of nature, she enjoyed seeing the fall foliage every year, and enjoyed visits to the Arnold Arboretum. She had an appreciation for the fine arts especially art museums, plays, the ballet, and musicals. In her free time, she loved sneaking into multiple movies in one day with her sisters, or listening to the big band classics. Not always a dog person, Alice grew to love her golden retriever, Trina, and often treated her to special lobster and ice cream dinners.
She will be greatly missed, but always remembered for her vivacious, extroverted personality that brought much joy to those around her.
Alice was the beloved wife of the late Gino DeSimone with whom she shared 33 years of marriage. Devoted mother of William Gillis and his wife Penny of Petaluma, Calif., Carla Nastri and her husband Mark Smith of Amherst, N.H., Stephanie (Nastri) Davis of Medford, and the late Nicholas Gillis. Dear sister of Margaret Montgomery of Putney, Vt., Thomas Powers of Chesapeake, Va., Cora Webster of Malden, James Powers of Fla., the late Patricia Dente, Rita Cappezuto, and Ella Hayes. Proud grandmother of William Gillis, James Gillis, John Gillis, Nicholas Gillis, Beau Fraser, and Ian Smith. Also survived by many loving great-grandchildren, and beloved nieces and nephews.
Relatives and friends gathered in honor and remembrance of Alice’s life during visiting hours at the Robinson Funeral Home, 809 Main St., Melrose on Tuesday, Oct. 9 and again on Wednesday before leaving in procession to Sacred Hearts Church, 297 Main St., Malden, for her funeral Mass. For online tribute and directions: RobinsonFuneralHome.com
