Remembering the life of Molly Mastrangelo

Molly Fudge Mastrangelo died on June 27, 2023, at the age of 87, surrounded by her family, with serenity and grace.
Molly Weston Fudge was born in upstate New York, the eldest child of Russell and Florence (Bray) Fudge. She was born into an extended family of artists, doctors, architects and engineers, at a time when the effects of the Great Depression persisted and scientific research was making great strides. Molly has lived, with purpose and curiosity, all her life, eagerly pursuing knowledge, new experiences, and friendships. She was equally comfortable as she was in the company of artists or scientists. Throughout her life, she Molly has been dedicated to the advancement of genetics and the teaching of science. She sailed, painted, drew, and sculpted, rode horses, mentored science fair students, gardened, traveled extensively, spoke fluent Italian, observed and documented birds, trees, and flowers, raised three daughters (and several goats), and she extended her love of the natural world to those around her.
Molly grew up, in Manlius, NY, the oldest child with two brothers, and attended Manlius High School (now Fayetteville Manlius). During the summers she sailed Tully Lake and worked as a lifeguard. After school, she and her friend would ride the bus to the riding school, until she had a horse of her own. She attended Mount Holyoke College, graduating, in 1957, Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in zoology, and was active in the theater department as a stage manager. She continued her undergraduate studies at Yale University. As part of her doctoral research, she received a grant from the National Science Foundation to conduct research on the role of a certain aminoenzyme in the development of sea urchin embryos (work that has contributed to the knowledge of how sea urchins develop organisms). Her research took her to Uppsala University, Sweden, and the Zoological Research Lab, Italy.
While in Naples, she met her husband, Giovanni Mastrangelo, the love of her life. They were married in 1959. Molly received her PhD, in Biology, in 1965. Her research was published in the Journal of Experimental Zoology, in 1966. Spending their early married life in Naples, Molly and Giovanni returned to the United States, living first in New Haven, Connecticut, briefly in the Philippines during the Vietnam War, and later in Cumberland, Md., where she and Giovanni thrived, for more than 40 years. Her daughter, Teresa, was born in New Haven. Her daughter, Alice, was born in the Philippines. And her daughter, Dilla, was born in Cumberland.
A full-time mom, Molly was active in Community Action, the League of Women Voters, and supported a green highway route through Allegany County (now Interstate Route 68), while caring for an active group of girls , goats, cats, dogs, horses and garden. Lacking a life of science and research, she re-entered scientific life in her 40s as a faculty member at Allegany College of Maryland (ACM), where she taught health sciences. She has also participated in genetic research, as a fellow, at the National Cancer Institute, Frederick. Her contributions to her methods for genetic research have been published in journals of genetics and molecular and cell biology. She retired from the ACM in 1997 and was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus, for her teaching excellence and commitment to her students. She and John lived, for many years, on a farm in Flintstone, where together they gardened, entertained birds, did carpentry and cared for cats, dogs, goats and horses. Molly was an avid reader and student, she kept an annual written diary and sketchbooks, of the comings and goings, of the flowers in bloom and the coming of the ducks on the pond. She loved to ride and often spent many hours on her horse, Belle, exploring the woods in the Green Ridge State Forest. Enjoying all that Maryland had to offer, she and Giovanni enjoyed sailing, with friends, the Chesapeake Bay, owning several boats, for over 20 years. They also loved to travel, both overseas and to Maine and the American West; they revisited Italy to connect with family and friends. She was thrilled to be a grandmother (known by some as “Capa”) and she relished teaching, singing, painting and playing with her seven grandchildren. Family was always close, from in-laws to grandchildren, and family reunions were frequent. Molly and Giovanni loved Cumberland and Flintstone, where they made lifelong friendships.
While she was a lifelong artist and learned to draw from watching her father, at a young age, Molly furthered her skill after retirement. She was educated at the John C. Campbell School for the Folk Arts, the Art Students League, New York City, and the Art League School, Virginia. After Giovanni’s death, Molly rekindled her passion for painting, as she and a community of artists in Cumberland spent many hours painting, in the studio and outdoors. She has explored portraiture, plein air (outdoor) landscapes and journaling, with illuminated letters working in oils, pen and ink, and watercolours. Molly’s most recent reinvention of herself was her move to McLean, Virginia in 2016, where she immediately developed a new circle of art friends (many of them, retired scientists, themselves). After moving to Virginia, she added sculpture to her emerging focus on portraiture. Her work has been accepted into several exhibitions, including at the Torpedo Factory, Mountain to Marina, Annapolis and the Allegany Arts Council. She has received several awards for her work.
In her later years, Molly practiced Pilates and continued to sing, first with the Cumberland Choral Society, and later, with the choir, at Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church, Arlington. She reviewed scholarship applications for high school science teachers and college students with the condition hydrocephalus. Active in environmental protection, she has volunteered with Home Ground, promoting and conserving the natural resources of Allegany County, Md. , and plays, of her grandchildren, as much as possible.
Her family will remember her as an ante litteram woman, traveling and pursuing a PhD, while nurturing her creative spirit. She was a loving mother, grandmother and sister, always willing to chat, text and listen. Her curiosity was contagious and the conversations meaningful. She was extraordinarily modest, brilliant, dedicated, resourceful and determined. She was willing to try new ventures and she taught us that having both an artistic and scientific mindset was possible and, indeed, an asset. Her friends describe her as authentic, focused, positive and deceptively courageous. Not only did she teach what she saw, but she was the family scribe and archivist, to preserve her discoveries for our future. She lived a life full of joy, loyalty, honesty and integrity above all.
Molly is preceded in death by her husband Giovanni; her niece, Julia Rose; nephew, Gerard Fudge; and her in-laws Mastrangelo.
She is survived by her daughter, Teresa, son-in-law, Eric Bendickson; and their three children, Justine, Graham and Maria; her daughter, Alice, son-in-law, Andrew Gittler, and their two sons, Daniel and Evan; her daughter, Dilla, and her two sons, Bryce and Molly; her brother, Russell Fudge, her wife, Emily, and her daughter, Rachel; and her brother, Donald Fudge, her wife, Dorla, and their children, Coley and Tracey.
Services:
We invite everyone to a service honoring Molly’s life on Friday, July 14, 2023, at 10:30 am, at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, located at 4250 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington, Virginia. The service will be live streamed. For friends in Cumberland, the family will receive guests Saturday, July 15, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the Adams Funeral Home, located at: 404 Decatur Street, Cumberland, Md.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation, in Molly’s honor, to:
1. Community Trust Foundation, Inc., Allegany County, Maryland.
https://ctfinc.org/give/opportunities-to-give/
2. Mount Holyoke College.
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/giving
3. The League of Art.
https://www.theartleague.org/support/giving/