Maria Rosaria Tringali was born on October 3, 1937, the eldest of eight children to Angelo and Carmela Tringali in Augusta, Sicily. After immigrating to the United States at 28 in 1965, she was a lifelong resident of Monterey, California.

She was a survivor of the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily during WWII’s Battle of Sicily. At age five, Maria fled with her parents and two younger siblings, on foot, from Augusta to Lentini, 15 miles away, to take refuge in nearby caves for several days to escape bombings.

Maria was a life-long learner and teacher. She earned her PhD in 1961 from the University of Catania, Italy. She was a Doctor of Philosophy in Italian, Classics, History, and Philosophy. Upon her arrival in the U.S., Maria began teaching Italian and Sicilian to FBI agents at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, CA. She also substituted at Monterey High School for many years and taught Italian at Middlebury Institute of International Studies as well as California State University Monterey Bay from 1996 to 2010 and continued to lecture as a guest speaker for several years afterward.

Maria was a woman of faith and very involved with her Catholic church community. She served as an office administrator at San Carlos Cathedral for over a decade but also taught catechism and confirmation classes to help prepare young people and converts for joining the church. She also enjoyed traveling through Europe, especially her home country of Italy, and visited often.

She is preceded in death by her father, Angelo Tringali, mother, Carmela Tringali (Lo Guidice), brother, Carmelo, sister-in-law, Francine Tringali (Flores), brother-in-law, Frank Caramagno, and nephew, David Tringali.

She is survived by her six siblings, Nella (Salvatore) Cusenza of Monterey, Gaetano (Elaine) Tringali of Capitola, Rita Caramagno of Richmond, Salvatore (Rina) Tringali of

Monterey, Domenico (Diane) Tringali of Clovis, and Anna Tringali (Paul Shaw) of Seaside; 15 nieces and nephews; 29 great nieces and nephews; and 3 great-great nieces and nephews.

A funeral mass will be held at San Carlos Cathedral on Monday, May 5th at 9:30 a.m.