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Rhode Island
Obituary: Mary Patricia Faerber (1950-2024) – Newport Buzz
February 14, 1950 – April 9, 2024
Mary Patricia Faerber,74, of Middletown, RI died April 9, 2024 at home surrounded by her loving family after a lengthy illness. She was predeceased by her husband Peter J. Faerber, her husband of 33 years. She was the daughter of the late Austin F. Grady and Genevieve N. (Edmonds) of Valley Falls, RI.
Born in Valley Falls and raised in Providence, Mary attended St. Xavier and graduated from Hope High School in 1968.
Mary’s parents, Austin, and Genevive Grady owned and operated Austin’s Snack Shop on Smith Street in Providence where she worked alongside family as a teenager and young adult. While working at the shop, she also would meet her future husband, Peter, who was a regular customer. The shop was just blocks from Providence College and the family befriended many of the aspiring student athletes and coaches. Mary always remembered fondly regarding sharing meals with John Thompson (then a basketball player for the Friars, who would go on to play for the Celtics, as well as coach for Georgetown) when he couldn’t travel home during school breaks.
After getting married, Mary worked as a clerk at Peerless Department Store in Providence. Mary and Peter would move to Middletown after the birth of their first child, Jennifer, and would remain there until their passings.
During the 1980s and 1990s she worked at St Mary’s Church as a religious education teacher, coordinator, and principal. In 1995, Fr. George B. McCarthy recruited her to work as St Mary’s Church Parish Secretary, where she stayed for over 20 years, retiring in 2018.
Mary enjoyed art in its many forms and loved painting various landscapes of New England, which family and friends enjoyed as framed gifts and on cards.
Mary was famous for her baking skills, desserts, and dozens of varieties of Christmas cookies which were also favored annual gifts for family, close friends, and the local fire department. But her biggest love in life was for her family, and she will forever be remembered and missed for her faith, love, and generosity to others.
Mary is survived by her children, Jennifer, and Peter (Alison), grandson Broden, sister Maureen Shoren (Hank), and many beloved nieces and nephews.
In addition to her husband, Peter, Mary was predeceased by her sisters Jeanne M. Chadwick (Ed) of Foster, Margaret E. Reposa (Ernie) of Smithfield, and Genevieve A. Lavoie (Bob) of North Providence.
Visiting hours will be held Friday, April 12 from 4-7 pm at the O’Neill-Hayes Funeral Home, 465 Spring St, Newport. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated Saturday, April 13 at 10 am, St. Mary’s Church, corner of Spring St & Memorial Blvd, Newport. Burial will follow at St. Columba Cemetery, 465 Brown’s Ln, Middletown.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the St. Mary’s Church Building Fund, PO Box 547, Newport, RI 02840, www.stmarynewportri.org/How-to-Donate or to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 20 Dr. Marcus Wheatland Blvd, Newport, RI 02840, https://mlkccenter.org/donate/.
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KILLINGLY, Conn. (WTNH) — A Rhode Island man has died after he crashed his pickup truck into a house Wednesday night in Killingly, according to Connecticut State Police.
State police said the 2023 GMC Sierra was traveling westbound on Route 101 in the area of Valley Road when it failed to negotiate a curve around 10:20 p.m. The truck left the roadway and struck mailboxes, a street sign, and a residential structure.
The driver, identified as Matthew James Sherman, 42, of Foster, was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Vehicle crashes into house on Route 101 in Killingly -
Vehicle crashes into house on Route 101 in Killingly
State police said the home sustained “catastrophic” damage. The front of the house was “destroyed,” according to the report, and the rest of the home had structural damage.
The house was searched by Urban Search and Rescue and found to be unoccupied at the time of the crash.
Route 101 between Chestnut Hill Road and Bailey Hill Road was closed for several hours, but reopened just before 5 a.m.
The Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Squad also assisted.
The crash remains under investigation.
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Above: The May 4, 2026, bell ringers, from left, Town Clerk Leigh Carney, Councilor Caryn Corenthal, Councilor Renu Englehart, Sen. Bridget Valverde, Councilor Mark Schwager, and Town Manager Andy Nota. It was 250 years ago Monday, May 4, that Rhode Island took the bold step of announcing its independence from England and the crown. Rhode […]
Which ‘Real Housewives of Rhode Island’ stars want to do Season 2?
Reporter Paul Edward Parker asks cast members of the “Real Housewives of Rhode Island” if they’re up for another season of the Bravo TV show.
Paul Edward Parker
It was in a Rhode Island court that “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island” heated up as a Cranston woman sued the husband of one of the cast members for slander.
The legal fireworks started April 13, when Brian Pontarelli, husband of “Real Housewife” star Rulla Nehme Pontarelli, sued Beth Walker of Cranston in Superior Court, alleging that she violated a confidentiality agreement in another lawsuit by “making public statements and social media posts” about facts related to the earlier lawsuit.
On Tuesday, May 5, Walker fired back, calling the confidentiality agreement illegal and unenforceable, saying that Pontarelli broke it first by talking on “Real Housewives,” and filing a countersuit saying that he made false, “defamatory and disparaging” comments on the “Real Housewives” main show, as well as during a podcast and an after-show live broadcast. She is seeking unspecified damages.
A past affair, current speculation and a national audience feed lawsuit
Walker particularly identifies the April 26 episode of “Watch What Happens Live,” when host Andy Cohen brings back stars from the show, which was taped last year, for further discussion. In this episode, Brian and Rulla talk about how their marriage has survived his cheating with another woman.
One of the subplots of “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island,” which is midway through its first season, is whether or not the affair Brian had is still ongoing. Texts and social media posts by an unnamed woman, whom the cast refers to as “the mistress,” feature in several episodes.
What Beth Walker has to say
Reached by The Providence Journal on Wednesday afternoon, May 6, Walker’s lawyer, Frank L. Orabona Jr., said that she can’t tell her side of the story right now.
“A public narrative has been created around my client, but narrative and facts are not always the same thing,” Orabona said. “As this unfolds, the evidence will tell a very different story.”
Post-show discussion and podcast fuel drama in court
In the April 26 “Watch What Happens Live” episode, in which Walker’s suit says Pontarelli “discussed a romantic relationship … in a defamatory and disparaging manner,” Rulla and Brian talk about his affair with “the mistress,” also referring to her as “the cockroach.”
Walker’s Tuesday filing also served as her answer to Pontarelli’s suit, and she asked the court to toss his claim based on 16 separate grounds.
Among other things, Walker’s filing says:
- “Walker’s speech relates to topics of public concern being discussed weekly to a nationwide audience of millions of viewers.”
- “Any comments made by Walker were truthful, not disparaging, related to matters in the public domain and/or were made in good faith.”
- “As a result of the national publicity of the show, information related to [Pontarelli’s] personal, romantic relationships is public knowledge nationally across the United States and locally in communities throughout Rhode Island; and is otherwise in the public domain.”
- “It is inequitable and unfair to allow [Pontarelli] a national platform to discuss topics to a coast-to-coast audience and prohibit Walker from speaking on the same topics and/or from correcting false information being spread by [Pontarelli] or others.”
- Prohibiting her from commenting would violate the state and federal constitutions’ guarantee of free speech.
No hearings have been scheduled in the case.
Pontarelli’s lawyer, Jessica L. Basso, declined to comment on the case.
This story has been updated with new information.
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