Michelina “Mickey” Rita (Sinopoli) Sama

CAPE ELIZABETH and WINDHAM – Michelina “Mickey” Rita (Sinopoli) Sama, 99, passed away on Saturday, March 15, 2025, at Mercy Hospital in Portland, from a sudden illness. Ralph and Kathy were with her.

Mickey was born on Feb. 1, 1926, in a snowstorm in Worcester, Mass., to Frank and Catherine (Facchino) Sinopoli. She lived with her parents, her sister, Mary, and their grandmother, Michelina, on 64 Gage St. From an early age she loved beautiful clothes as well as playing pick-up baseball and basketball in the street or park after school. Dressing in nice clothes and playing sports boosted her confidence. She loved her community and family life. She said, “We were poor, but we did not know it.”

She started dating the son of close family friends when she was a young girl. On their first date, she got home late and went to bed wearing her gown. Clearly an effort to down play her late arrival should her Dad peek in to check on her! She had known Frank Sama all of her life. She loved him deeply from their first date. She graduated from Worcester High School of Commerce in 1943 along with her sister and two future sisters-in-law. She worked for a local law firm as a secretary until her wedding. Mickey and Frank were avid dancers at Union Station in Worcester, Mass. during their courtship. On April 15, 1945, she married the love of her life at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. The community wide celebration lasted all night. The food and Italian cookies and pastries and cake were legendary. She loved to recount how they left directly from the reception to catch the early morning train to Miami Beach, Fla. for their honeymoon. Always styling, those two!

After Worcester, Mass., they lived in Manchester and Glastonbury, Conn., and in Windham and Cape Elizabeth. She worked as a bookkeeper for the Town of Glastonbury and later for Cherished Possessions in Cape Elizabeth. She and Frank were previously members of the Board of Directors of Hancock Lumber. Wherever they lived they made many friends and shared the strong sense of community they had known all of their lives.

Mickey loved to walk on Crescent Beach and at Fort Williams Park. She was a nine-hole golf champion at Purpoodock Country Club. She was a communicant of Catholic churches in each of the towns where she lived. By far her greatest joy came from spending time with her family.

She moved from their Hunts Point neighborhood in Cape Elizabeth to The Landing where she enjoyed the past 10 years. There, she dined with friends, played Bingo, took walks, went to musical and theatrical performances, knitted, solved crossword puzzles and cared for the plants in the library and arts rooms. She loved her friends and the staff and care-givers at the Landing for their comforting care and many kindnesses. A cake and ice cream social will be held there to honor them.

Mickey, Mom, Grammy, Nana has left a hole in our hearts, but not without giving each of us a foundation of absolute, unshakable love and kindness. With every conversation, visit, and hug, we were given strength, laughter, and stories (she had a phenomenal memory, so plenty of stories) along with her complete attention and time.

She is survived by her son, Ralph, and his wife, Kathy; two granddaughters and their families, Jennifer and Andrew Menke, and Rachel Sama and Henry Ayres; and five great-grandchildren, Anna Menke, Auden Menke, Nicholas Ayres, Christine Ayres, and Nathaniel Ayres; and many nieces and nephews and their families.

She was predeceased by her parents; her sister; and her husband.

Friends and family are invited to a visitation on Thursday, May 29, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Hobbs Funeral Home, 230 Cottage Rd., South Portland, and attend a Mass of Christian Burial on Friday, May 30 at 10 a.m. at St. Bartholomew’s Church, 8 Two Lights Rd., Cape Elizabeth. Interment will follow at the Riverside Cemetery where she will be laid to rest next to her beloved husband. A reception will follow.

Online condolences may be viewed and expressed at http://www.hobbsfuneralhome.com

Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the

Betty and Sumner Hancock Scholarship Fund.

(The fund is for the benefit of Casco youth furthering their post-secondary careers.)

C/O Matthew Hancock

P.O. BOX 295

Casco, ME 04015