Mary Hope Gagnon

Mary Hope Gagnon, of Fort Pierce, FL and Bel Air, MD, passed at the age of 72 on November 12, 2016 at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air. She was born in New Haven, CT to Joseph D. and Adrienne (Grazioso) Scarpellino and was a 1966 graduate of Southern CT State Teacher's College.

Mary Hope is survived by her husband of 51 years, Conrad "Rick" Gagnon; her children, Jane D. Pruitt and husband, Bob, of Bel Air and Conrad J. Gagnon and wife, Heather Gallant Gagnon, of Forest Hill; her siblings, Philip Scarpellino, Jane Scarpellino and Joseph Scarpellino Jr. all of New Haven, CT; and her grandchildren, Cole Gagnon and wife, Leslie Fox Gagnon, of Stevensville, Dan Pruitt of Crofton, Haley Pruitt of Baltimore, Conrad J. Gagnon III and Forrest R. Gagnon both of Forest Hill.

Even though she lived in Maryland for 50 years, as well as having a second home in Fort Pierce, Florida, she always considered her true home to be New Haven, Connecticut. Mary Hope kept in touch with her large extended family and friends who still resided in Connecticut. She even kept in touch with her friends from elementary school, and attended a reunion for her class's 50th Anniversary.

Along with her strong connection to New Haven, she felt it was important to keep in touch with her Italian heritage. Mary Hope took many trips to Italy, and although she enjoyed traveling across the entire country, she fell in love with the coast of Amalfi, where her family originated.

Mary Hope worked as a fourth grade teacher at Joppatowne Elementary School for four years. Later, she managed the Edwin Booth Theatre, and successfully introduced dinner theatre to Harford County.
Above all else, Mary Hope loved her family, near and far. She was well known for entertaining guests with her Italian cooking and welcoming attitude. She enjoyed surprising her family with thoughtful and generous gifts from her travels or from Amazon.com.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to The Greater New Haven Cat Project, Inc., P.O. Box 1432, New Haven CT 06506 www.gnhcp.org or to Luna's House, Inc., P.O. Box 802, Abingdon, MD 21009.