Mary Carmela Kurfess

Mary Carmela Kurfess, 95, of Edmonds, WA passed away on September 20, 2025, in San Diego after a brief illness.  

Mary was born in upstate New York on February 1, 1930, to Dominick and Rosa Parisi. Her father moved the family to Calabria, Italy in 1938 where they stayed through World War II.  

Upon returning to the USA, Mary and her two sisters held several jobs while finishing school and decided to join religious orders and become nuns. Mary’s religious zeal was strong but her schedule keeping was not and the order politely told her she would be better off getting married and having children.  

This turned out to be a good suggestion and in 1956 she married Francis Anton Kurfess at St. Mary’s in Seattle, WA. They made their first home on Beacon Hill and later in Rainier Beach in South Seattle and had four wonderful children: Shirley (Don), Carl (Parnia), Michael (Tina), and Paul (Melissa). Mary was the proud grandmother to nine grandchildren: Nicole, Daniel, Tyler, Kyle, Conner, Veronica, Maxwell, Natalie, and Camilla. She also was a great grandmother to Jackson and an upcoming boy (Conner and McKenzie). In later years she moved to Edmonds, WA and was able to spend quality time with family and often visited San Diego.  

Mary was a devout Roman Catholic and was heavily involved in each parish she attended over the years. She was in choirs, was a Eucharist Minister, attended daily mass often, and was a member of the Catholic Daughters of America at her final parish at St. Pius X in Mountlake Terrace, WA. She led rosaries, attended Novenas and was a regular attendee at Perpetual Adoration of The Blessed Sacrament.  

Mary had many other interests including cooking, gardening, puzzles, visiting family and helping immensely with her grandchildren. Her main hobby was knitting which she did daily. She knitted many, many scarves, blankets, hats, and dish cloths for family and friends. Mary knitted custom blankets for each family member, and they are in constant use. When cooking, Mary used an inordinate quantity of olive oil as it was her favorite “condiment.”  

Mary is preceded in death by her husband Francis of 48 years, and her brothers James, Mario, Anthony, Joseph, Phillip and their spouses, her sisters Carmela, RSCJ, and Virginia, SNJM. She is survived by one brother, Salvatore and many nieces, nephews, and friends.  

A Catholic mass to celebrate Mary’s beautiful life will be held on Monday, October 6, 2025, at St Pius X Catholic Church, 22209 58th Ave W. Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043 at 11:00 am. The mass will be preceded by a rosary at 10:30 am. Following the mass, there will be a graveside service at Holyrood Cemetery, 205 NE 205th St, Shoreline, WA 98155, and then a reception back in the St Pius X parish social hall starting at 1:00 pm.  

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in memory of Mary Kurfess to:

Padre Pio Foundation of America

463 Main St., Cromwell, CT 06416

📧 [email protected]  

Mary’s warmth, humor and kindness for others will be missed by this world and will live forever in the hearts of those fortunate enough to have met her. Oh, and now the depleted Worldwide olive oil reserves can recover!