Mary (Filtranti) Abraham, a long-time Salem resident, passed away March 14, at Lafayette Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Facility. On February 11th, she enjoyed celebrating her 97th birthday with family following her miraculous recovery from a hospitalization and two rounds of COVID! Staff at the Lafayette will miss seeing Mary's ready smile and constant words of blessing and appreciation for their assistance.

Mary was the beloved wife of the late Robert Abraham, Sr., and the mother of six children: Cathy Abraham, wife of the late Estal Fain; Gladys Abraham Olson and husband Scott; Rhonda Abraham Houlihan and former husband Brian Houlihan; Robert Abraham, Jr., and wife Helen Lavoie Abraham; the late Debora Abraham Petrishen and husband Michael; and Nancy (Gigi) Abraham and husband Stephen Weydt. She also has four living and two deceased grandchildren, two step-grandsons; three great-grandchildren, sister-in-law, Eleanor Abraham Harvey wife of the late Thomas Harvey and family; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was the sole survivor of her Filtranti family of origin—four brothers: Joe, Carmello, Frank and Dominic and a sister, Evelyn Doucette.

Mary was a person of action: upright, honest, straightforward and intuitive. She was also. a woman of wit and wisdom and eternal gratitude for her many blessings. She was highly intelligent and had a fine, logical mind facile enough to fix small appliances and refurbish furniture to look new! She was an avid reader and enjoyed knitting and sew ing. Mary especially loved walking and often her children could not keep pace with her! At age 74, she took up exercise classes and became so proficient, the Salem Hospital Heart & Wellness Center used Mary as the subject of a promotional exercise video for their Seniors Exercise Class.

Although Mary valued education, shortages in our nation's factories during World War II led Mary to quit high school and go to work. At the age of 40, she went back to High School to earn her diploma. She was an A student and went on to take Algebra at Salem State University.

In 2004 she went on a trip to Italy and Sicily with her daughter Debora and daughter-in-law, Helen and had the joy of seeing where her parents and older siblings lived before emigrating from Sicily.

A private service and celebration will be held at a future date. In lieu of flowers donations to may be made to the Disabled American Veterans, JFK Federal Building, Government Center, Boston, MA 02203 or, a charity of your choice.