Marie T. Kolanda

STERLING - Marie Kolanda, 67, passed away peacefully at home on Friday, April 3rd, following a lengthy battle with cancer, surrounded by her loving family.

Marie grew up in Haverhill, MA with nine sisters and one brother. She graduated from Merrimack College in 1980 with a degree in Accounting and Finance and later earned an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University. Marie worked in that field until she and her husband, Gary, started a family. Later, when the children were older, Marie pursued a career in Graphic Design and Web Development until her retirement in 2025.

Marie and Gary met 44 years ago, getting engaged at Acadia National Park in Maine in 1983. Marie and Gary's marriage in 1985 widened a beautiful circle of love, creating a union of two amazing families. They raised two beautiful children, MacKenzie and Kenan. MacKenzie and Scotty Delforte met in college at UNH and married in 2022, gifting us with a most wonderful son in-law. This past August they welcomed their first child and our cherished grandson, Wesley, into the world. The family extended again the past couple of years with Nadia Mahrez, Kenan's girlfriend, joining the family.

Family was connection and community for Marie. The importance of that compelled her to maintain a directory of family contacts, birthdays, anniversaries, and other events throughout each year. She coordinated the annual Christmas photo compilation collected from family members. With a lifelong interest in photography, Marie snapped thousands of amazing action shots of Kenan and MacKenzie at their baseball, soccer, lacrosse, and softball games. Marie was their number one fan and a constant cheerleader from the bleachers. She and Gary traveled up and down the East coast supporting MacKenzie and Kenan and their travel sports clubs.

Marie was an insatiable reader, driven by her curiosity for the world and her place in it. And it was an odd moment when Marie did not have a book in hand. She enriched our conversations about astronomy, history, politics, spirituality and religion with her knowledge, her perspectives, and insights. Marie turned her creativity and passion into poetry. Her poems explored the rare gift we have of family, reminding all of us of what truly matters in this human life. Nature, quiet grace, the lasting effect of small kindness, bonds of love, relationships of family, and the heartache and struggles of living with cancer are held with equal measure in her work. Her poetry is an invitation to journey and discover revelations that require a lifetime for most ordinary mortals to grasp. Marie gifted us with a legacy. Her opus of work embodies her essence, and her voice lives on in her collection of poems found at https://lifepoetrywoundedandwhole.com/.

There were annual summer trips to various lakes in Maine spent with extended family. She enjoyed the joys and adventures of observing nature on a woodland walk, hiking, kayaking, and cycling the rail trails of New England. Her love of astronomy and learning about the cosmos inspired us to gaze at the night sky and decipher ancient stories of constellations, observe celestial events of solar eclipses, watch the meteor showers and stare in amazement at the Northern Lights. Marie would sit under dark heavens spangled with stars, watching the phases of the moon and observing the planets through her telescope. When it is our time, we will find her wandering amidst the stardust and the cosmos and once again, like in life, find Marie, and share the wonders of the universe.

Marie's father, Richard White and father in-law, Arthur Kolanda preceded her death. Marie is survived by her husband, Gary Kolanda of Sterling MA, daughter, MacKenzie Kolanda Delforte, son in-law, Scotty Delforte of South Portland, ME; son, Kenan Kolanda of Somerville, MA; grandson, Wesley Scott Delforte of South Portland, ME; her mother Shirley White of Haverhill, MA, her mother in-law, Pearl Kolanda of Binghamton, NY and siblings, brothers and sisters in-law with their spouses as follows: Patricia Roy of Merrimac, MA, Kathy and Earl (Ozzie) Morrill of Amesbury, MA, John White and his partner JoAnn DiBurro of Newburyport, MA; Ellen and Miles Montelius of Tunbridge Wells, England; Janet and Peter Gollub of Natick, MA; Laurie and Dean Rantz of Middleboro, MA; Lisa and Alan Warfield of Crestview, FL; Colleen and John Greenwood of Westford, MA; Christine and Mick Rogers of Plaistow, NH; Andrea and James Farrell of Haverhill, MA; David and Esther Kolanda of Green Cove Springs, FL; Christine and Jeff Wood of Binghamton, NY; Art & Becki Kolanda of Sweet Valley, PA; Laurie and Chris Argue of Alton, NH. She leaves behind many beloved cousins, nieces, nephews, and dear friends.

A funeral service will be held on Friday, April 10th at 10:00 AM at St. Richard of Chichester Church, 4 Bridge Street in Sterling. Family and friends are kindly invited to attend.

Assisting with arrangements is Miles-Sterling Funeral & Tribute Center in Sterling. To leave a message or share a memory with the family please visit www.milesfuneralhome.com