Area man honors late wife with gift of Easter dinners
By CHRISTINE HAINES
chaines@yourmvi.com
Easter dinners were distributed to 200 senior citizens in four communities Friday in memory of a West Newton woman.
The meals were packaged by the Monessen Salvation Army and distributed to seven senior high rises in Monessen, Belle Vernon, Charleroi and West Newton in memory of Maria DeRienzo Brun.
Maria was born with a heart defect that limited her life expectancy, but never affected her capacity to love, according to her husband.
“She was the kindest individual I ever met,” said Joseph Brun. “God gave me such a good gift in her. I wanted to do something to give back.”
Maria passed away Feb. 8 at age 60. That was 15 years longer than doctors had told her to expect, but still far too early in her husband’s eyes.
“I was a wedding photographer. I was taking photos of the mother-son dance and she was sitting in the corner crying,” Joseph said.
Brun said his wife worried that she wouldn’t have that same experience with her own child.
“She made it to dance at our son’s wedding at the mother-son dance,” Joseph said.
To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Saturday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.
