Marlene Barbara Casertano-Hess: Former art teacher

July 14, 2023 at 4:18 p.m.

Marlene Barbara Casertano-Hess, 89, formerly of Rye Brook, died peacefully July 6, 2023 at her daughter’s home in Newtown, Conn.

She moved to Emmitsburg, Md. in 1998 and then moved to Newtown in 2022.

Mrs. Casertano-Hess was an active member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Emmitsburg, Md. and Our Lady of Mercy Church in Port Chester and was instrumental in the implementation of the Rosary Congress in New York.

She graduated from the College of New Rochelle in 1955 with a BA in Fine Art and a master’s degree in Art Education from Hunter College in 1957.

She worked as an art teacher in Pelham before becoming a full-time mother and housewife.

She married Charles S. Hess, Jr. Aug. 18, 1956, and they spent the next 65 years together before his death in 2021.

During those years she raised her children and grandchildren all the while serving her Lord.

She is survived by her daughter Corinna Matijevic and her husband John, grandchildren Alexandria and SteviAnn and her great-grandson, Christian; her son Charles A. Hess and his wife Jennifer and grandchildren Claire and Gillian, along with two sisters, Cynthia Robertson of Cheshire, Conn. and Phyllis Smith of Milford, Conn.

Mrs. Casertano-Hess was preceded in death by her husband Charles S. Hess, Jr. and brother Nicholas Casertano.

A Mass of Celebration of Life will be held Fri., July 21 at 11 a.m. at St. Anthony Marionite Church, 17 Grandville Ave., Danbury, Conn.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to Catholic Charities Adoption Services as Marlene and Charles adopted their two children. Donations should be sent to Catholic Charities of Fairfield County, 238 Jewett Ave., Bridgeport, CT 06606.