Mary Ciuccoli, 86, longtime Ridgefielder

Mary E. Ciuccoli of 180 Limekiln Road, a longtime Ridgefielder who worked — and posed — for artist Dorothy Weir, died on Monday morning, March 25, at Danbury Hospital. She was 86 years old and the widow of Amelkri Ciuccoli and Mervin R. Bass.
Mrs. Ciuccoli was born in Bridgeport on Dec. 7, 1915, a daughter of the late Gino and Domenica Ridolfi Bruschi, and came to Ridgefield when she was two years old. Her father was superintendent on the Grimes estate on Branchville Road and as a child she walked to the one-room Branchville Schoolhouse for her primary education.
In 1934, she married Mervin Bass, who worked on the Branchville farm of artist Mahonri Young and his wife, Dorothy Weir Young. Mrs. Young had inherited the farm, now a national park, from her father, artist J. Alden Weir.
Mrs. Ciuccoli started out doing cleaning, but eventually also became a part-time cook for the Youngs, who became fans of her homemade macaroni and spaghetti dishes. But instead of wearing a uniform and serving it as the regular cook did, Mrs. Ciuccoli let the Youngs serve themselves. “I told them to eat family style!” she said in a November 2000 interview.
Mervin Bass posed for several of Mr. Young’s works; a statue of Mr. Bass is now in the Mormon Museum in Salt Lake City. Mrs. Ciuccoli posed for at least one painting by Mrs. Young, also an artist.
In 1939 the Basses moved to Georgetown. Mr. Bass died in 1953 and two years later, Mrs. Ciuccoli married Amelkri Ciuccoli. In 1963, the Ciuccolis returned to Ridgefield and to a house he had built on Soundview Road. When her husband died in 1991, Mrs. Ciuccoli went to live with her daughter, Joan E. Green, on Limekiln Road.
A “stay-at-home mom,” Mrs. Ciuccoli liked to spend most of her day in the kitchen where she enjoyed cooking, her family said. “She also enjoyed sewing, gardening and faithfully communicating with her family and friends by telephone. Her care, concern and love for family was her most important reason for being. She will be indeed greatly missed.”
Besides her daughter and son-in-law Ralph Green, Mrs. Ciuccoli is survived by a son: Robert J. Bass and his wife, Gloria, of Georgetown; a sister: Evelyn Brennan of Bridgeport; and by five grandchildren: Denise Thompson of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., William Green of Ridgefield, Chris Davis of Hebron, Edward Bass of Florida, and Faith Filiault of Georgetown; seven great-grandchildren; and three nephews.
Two grandsons, Robert J. Bass Jr. and Bruce G. Filiault, died before her.
The Rev. William Pfohl will lead services today, Thursday, at 10 a.m. in Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church, 207 Main Street.
Burial will follow in Hillside Cemetery, Wilton.
Contributions in Mrs. Ciuccoli’s memory may be made to the Ridgefield Fire Department Ambulance Fund, 6 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877.
The Kane Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.