Diane M. (Aker) Catalano

Waltham – Mrs. Diane M. (Aker) Catalano, of Waltham, died Sunday, November 30, 2014 in Spaulding Hospital, Cambridge. She was 73.

Diane was born in Brighton on August 26, 1941, a daughter of the late Lyle P. and Estelle (MacDonald) Aker. She was raised in Hyde Park and graduated from Roslindale High School. When her children were young she worked at Metropolitan Pharmacy on Lexington Street in Waltham and then became the chief operator in the telecommunications department at M.I.T. in Cambridge, retiring in 2011.

On May 26, 1962 she married Michael M. Catalano at Sacred Heart Church in Roslindale. The pair settled in Waltham where they built a home in Our Lady's Parish and where they would raise their three girls. She was always active in her children's activities and had been a CCD Teacher, Girl Scout Leader and a member of the PTA. She loved the Bruins and enjoyed bowling at the Wal-Lex. She was a wonderful wife and mother and some of the family's happiest memories are from spending their summers together at Sebago Lake in Maine.

Diane's husband, Michael, died on July 31, 2011.

She leaves her daughters, Bernadette T. Drinkwater and her husband, Richard F., of N. Billerica, Diane M. Moran and her husband, Christopher L., of Woburn and Christina L. Reilly and her husband, Brian K., of Millis; her grandchildren, Emily and Nicholas Drinkwater, Gerald and Daniel Moran and Victoria and Brian Reilly; her siblings, Majorie M. Sanford and her husband, Frederick, of Medway, Catherine L. Chisholm of Billerica, Donna F. King of Walpole, Lyle G. 'Jerry' Aker and his wife, Susan, of Billerica, Bruce J. Aker and his wife, Maureen, of Cranberry Township, PA, Michael K. Aker of Skokie, IL, and William D. Aker of Hyde Park and many nieces and nephews.

She was the sister-in-law of the late Raymond Chisholm and Robert King.

Family and friends will honor and remember Diane's life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Thursday December 4th, from 4 to 8 p.m. and again at 9:30 a.m. on Friday morning before leaving in procession to Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Church, 880 Trapelo Road, Waltham, where her Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Burial will follow in Mount Feake Cemetery, Waltham.

Memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children's Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or to The Home for Little Wanderers, 10 Guest Street, Boston, MA 02135.