Lena M. (Totten) Fontello

Lena Mae Fontello, age 88, of New Castle, Delaware, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on May 5, 2023.

Lena was born in Saltville, Virginia to the late Isaac and Eula Valda Totten. She made her journey from Virginia to Maryland in the late 1950’s, eventually settling in Delaware, which she called home for over 60 years. Lena had 4 children, 10 grandchildren, as well as many other children that she loved and cared for as if they were her own.

Lena was the most selfless, thoughtful, and caring person any one could ever know. She absolutely loved her family and couldn't be more proud of all of them. Spending time and sharing stories with family and friends made her extremely happy. She also enjoyed dancing, bowling, skating, bird watching, coloring, and copying her scriptures directly from the Bible.

Lena had many different careers over her lifetime, which included working as a waitress, model, and manager at Howard Johnsons, as a waitress at the Country Girl Diner in Wilmington, as an assembler at General Motors, and the job for which she was most proud: working at ILC Dover, who has been the primary supplier of spacesuits for NASA. She was also a missionary who traveled to Guatemala in 1975 with the church.

Lena was preceded in death by her husband of 47 years, Robert G. Fontello, Sr.; her siblings: Woodrow, Fred, Charlie, and Annie Pearl; and most recently, her son Daniel Hall and Daughter Connie Hall.

She is survived by her children: Adria Clark and Matthew Dallago. She will also be dearly missed by her grandchildren: Dan, Genevieve, Fritz, Leah, Brian, Shane, Maggie, Michael, Jacob, Gabriel, and Blake; and all of the others that she held close to her heart, including her brother Sam and sister Jane.

At Lena’s request, a service and celebration of life will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you do something nice for yourself, because that’s what Lena would have wanted.

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