Mary LaFauci; late in career, left job and realized long-held goal to be nurse

“One factor that makes an enormous difference in my life, the factor that really energizes me, is that I know I am one of the most fortunate people in the world, because every day when I wake up I get to do what I love to do,’’ Mrs. LaFauci said in March 2006, when she accepted a Women Making a Difference award from the Zonta Club of Malden, a professional women’s service organization. “Nursing was something I had considered doing long ago, so why not now?’’

As a novice in a field filled with newcomers less than half her age, she impressed colleagues and supervisors with her dedication to patients and an energy level that is seldom seen among nurses in their early 20s, let alone one in their early 60s.

Mrs. LaFauci, a licensed practical nurse who was a semester shy of completing course work to become a registered nurse, died in her Melrose home June 24 of complications from kidney cancer. She was 64.

Earlier this week, colleagues held a memorial gathering at Hallmark Health VNA and Hospice in Malden, where Mrs. LaFauci worked.

“I talked about why she touched us so, because we work with a lot of great people,’’ said Diane Farraher-Smith, the agency’s executive director. “It really was that she was one of the most outstanding nurses in our midst. How many of us look forward to coming to work every day? And she had such a passion for caring and learning that it transcended to many of the other people here, and definitely to our patients.’’

Mrs. LaFauci’s unlikely journey to becoming a student nurse in her 60s began after she graduated from Malden High School in 1962 and was accepted into the nursing program at a local hospital. Various circumstances intruded, and she was unable to attend.

Instead, she married, raised two sons, and in 1972 went to work at McFadden Memorial Manor, a nursing home in Malden. Over the course of more than 30 years, she held positions such as head administrative clerk, patient services supervisor, and the administrative assistant who coordinated admissions.

“When I retired from McFadden Manor, there was a nagging feeling inside of me that told me I wasn’t quite finished,’’ she said in her 2006 acceptance speech to the Malden Zonta Club, where she formerly served as president.

She attended the Soldiers’ Home School of Practical Nursing in Chelsea, graduating in 2006 and surprising a few patients along the way.

“Every so often, in clinical settings, when I would explain to a patient that I was their student nurse for the day, they would be speechless for a few minutes. I could almost see their wheels turning as they tried to phrase politically correct questions about my status as a student,’’ she told the Zonta Club.

But colleagues had no such difficulty recognizing that Mrs. LaFauci was exactly where she was meant to be.

“It was a second career, although I think she always had the calling,’’ Farraher-Smith said.

“She had all of what it takes: compassion, kindness, empathy,’’ said Deb Cronin-Waelde, who directs Hallmark Health’s bone and joint program. “She really saw the whole picture of the patient. And then she tied it in to community service.’’

In addition to working with the Zonta Club, Mrs. LaFauci has served on the boards of the Melrose Youth Hockey Association and Eliot Community Human Services. She also previously was vice president of Malden City Employees Credit Union.

“She knew what she wanted, but she always had time for people,’’ said her sister, Jane Z. Murphy of Lexington. “And she always really concentrated on whatever she did and how that would make other people feel.’’

Raised in Malden, Mary Zampitella was in fifth grade at St. Joseph’s School when she met John LaFauci, whom she started dating after finishing ninth grade at what was then Brown Junior High School. They married on June 18, 1966.

Along with working and raising their two sons, Mrs. LaFauci was known for welcoming visitors into their Melrose house or their summer residence in Salem, N.H., where the first Saturday each August was Kelly day, when she hosted dozens of relatives from her mother’s side of the family.

“The house was open to everyone,’’ her husband said. “If it was the morning, she’d ask if they wanted breakfast. If it was night, she’d ask if they wanted to stay for supper, and she’d rustle up a meal faster than anyone I know.’’

That held true when Mrs. LaFauci was a nursing student. She held study groups at her house and cooked for other students, some younger than her children. Nevertheless, studying was serious business.

“She’d go to school all day, come home, and cook me supper, then she’d go to her office and study for six or seven hours a night,’’ her husband said. “Her goal was an A. . . . B wasn’t good enough, she needed to get an A.’’

Bringing the same passion to her clinical work, Mrs. LaFauci acquired a reputation as “a true, heartfelt patient advocate,’’ Cronin-Waelde said. “She would go to many lengths to advocate what was right for her patients.’’

Such devotion inspired colleagues and those outside nursing. Mrs. LaFauci’s decision at 59 to enter a profession that had slipped from her grasp 40 years earlier “gave us all the feeling that you never have to let go of your dream,’’ said Sue Thomson, president of the Zonta Club of Malden.

With a ready smile and an attitude that remained upbeat even while battling cancer, Mrs. LaFauci was well suited for a caring profession, Thomson added.

“She just had a sweet, sweet nature, and people just gravitated to her,’’ Thomson said. “People struggle, and she had the ability to come over to them and lighten their load. It seemed that she did that without even trying - she always knew the right thing to say.’’

In addition to her husband and sister, Mrs. LaFauci leaves two sons, Jay of Malden and Andrew of Melrose.

A service has been held.