Arlene DeGruccio Marucci passed away at home surrounded by family on May 14, 2024.. The daughter of Paul Peter DeGruccio and Margaret Virginia Raimondi DeGruccio, Arlene was born in Orange, New Jersey on July 10, 1938. She graduated from Orange High School in 1956, where she was voted Best Dressed by her

senior class.After high school she worked as an executive secretary to a vice president of General Electric in Manhattan until marrying in 1960.

Arlene began dating Thomas Frank Marucci as a junior in high school and their romance continued through the years Tom attended the Coast Guard Academy. At last, on January 17, 1960, the high school sweethearts married. As a young military wife and mother she guided her growing family through stations in Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia and Connecticut. They finally moved to and settled in Texas in 1975. In each new station she helped her family acclimate by finding the church, the school, and the library.

As a young mother, she came across a Billy Graham broadcast where he said that the key to talking with children was to listen when they were ready to talk, which became a guiding principle in her mothering. She was always ready to listen, whether after school, in the car, or at 2 a.m. During her children's teen years she became a knowledgeable music buff, knowing the music and names of their favorite bands, lead singers and band members. She also enjoyed reading so she could talk with her children and their friends on a variety of topics. Reading, artistic pursuits, gardening, traveling and above all, spending time with her family were her favorite pastimes.

She was an active leader in every parish as a eucharistic minister, CCE teacher, bible study and ladies' club member, and she crocheted prayer shawls for many years. She was a wonderful artist in multiple mediums, from painting to embroidery to crocheting. Her paintings hang in her children's homes and the afghans she crocheted bring cozy comfort to the family and all the friends for whom she made custom creations.

A devoted and loving wife and mother, she leaves behind her beloved husband, the love of her life for 64 years, Tom Marucci, and daughters Phyllis Marucci Woodley, Margaret Marucci and Christine Marucci, and sons Peter Marucci and his wife, Lisa, and Paul Marucci and his wife, Mary Ann. Her pride and joy were her ten grandchildren: Michael Ryan Marucci, Hannah Nicole Marucci, and Christopher Peyton Marucci; Raychelle Delia Kelley, Teresa Marie Kelley, and Jessica Anne Kelley; and Julian Dominic Marucci, Wyatt Thomas Marucci,Cory William Woodley and Thomas Monroe Woodley. Nieces Lynda DeGruccio DePetris and her husband Walt, Karen DeGruccio Voglezang and her husband Dave, Jennifer DeGruccio Melendez and her husband Anthony, and Nancy Bucca Gelnovatch and her husband Walt; and brother in law Patrick Marucci and nieces Karen and Lauren Marucci and numerous great nieces and nephews, cousins and friends. She is predeceased by her parents, Paul and Margaret DeGruccio, infant sister Antoinette DeGruccio, brother Conrad DeGruccio, sister Paula DeGruccio Bucca and brother-in-law Dominick Bucca, nephew Dominick Bucca, her father-in-law Peter John Marucci, mother-in-law Philomena Cannizzo Marucci, and her sister-in-law Constance Longo Marucci.

Pallbearers are her grandsons, Michael, Christopher, Julian and Wyatt Marucci, and Cory and Thomas Woodley.

Visitation will be held at Darst Funeral Home in Kingwood on Wednesday, May 29, from 7 - 9 p.m. Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 30 at St. Martha's Catholic Church, followed by burial at the National Cemetery in Houston.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Platelet Disorder Support Association (PDSA) pdsa.org/tribute-donation.html Or to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital www.stjude.org/donate