Prato (Colangelo), Lena “Lee”

Lee, 91, passed away peacefully on September 27, 2023, after a brief illness, surrounded by her family. She was born December 2, 1931 in Rochester, New York to Mary (DiFrancesco) and Michael Colangelo. She was predeceased by her husband of 55 years, Samuel F. Prato; sister Mary (Clyde) Washburn; and brother Michael Colangelo. She attended Mt. Carmel elementary school and was a 1950 graduate of East High School. She obtained her RN from Highland Hospital’s School of Nursing in 1953, working there prior to the birth of her children.

She returned to nursing after raising her children and was employed as an occupational nurse at several companies, eventually retiring from the Gannett Corporation. In her retirement she volunteered at Advent House, Craft Bits and Pieces and was an active member in a local sewing guild. She was an avid reader and was never without a copy of the NY Times or the New Yorker. She joined Sam in his love for Michigan Football and the Yankees, and was personally invested in Derek Jeter’s success. Having a conversation with her inevitably included her favorite response, “for real” ?!  She never met a sewing or knitting project she couldn’t tackle, from her children and grandchildren’s Halloween costumes to custom drapes and pillows. She was a phenomenal baker and cook, and rarely opened a box of anything. Lee was the salt of the earth and treasured her family and friends and was always there when you needed her. She was a loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother and friend and she will be missed for her warmth and kindness. Her favorite poem, “Ithaka” aptly befits her life:

As you set out for Ithaka

hope your road is a long one,

full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:

you’ll never find things like that on your way

as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,

as long as a rare excitement

stirs your spirit and your body.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them

unless you bring them along inside your soul,

unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.

May there be many summer mornings when,

with what pleasure, what joy,

you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;

may you stop at Phoenician trading stations

to buy fine things,

mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

sensual perfume of every kind—

as many sensual perfumes as you can;

and may you visit many Egyptian cities

to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

Arriving there is what you’re destined for.

But don’t hurry the journey at all.

Better if it lasts for years,

so you’re old by the time you reach the island,

wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,

not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.

Without her you wouldn’t have set out.

She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.

Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,

you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean. (C.P. Cavafy)

She is survived by her children, Tom (Stephanie) Prato and Mary (Mark) Abrams, her beloved grandchildren (Victoria, Geoffrey, Alex and Sam), her sister-in-law, Joan (Gene) Presicci, and her nephew, Clyde, Jr. (Valentina) Washburn. We are grateful to Shepherd Home and its staff, along
with dear family friend, Jean Oswald, for their loving care and support of Lee in her final days. Private interment was held September 30, 2023. Please consider a donation in her name to the Shepherd Home (www.shepherdhome.org).