Laurel Colosi

Laurel (Pratton) Colosi , 97, passed away after a short illness at her home in Tewksbury, MA on
April 30th, 2022. Daughter of the late Leonard and Margaret (Shinnick) Pratton of Aberdeen,
South Dakota. Wife of 67 years to the late Peter D. Colosi, Sr. Mother of Peter Jr. and his wife
Deborah of North Reading, Ronald and his wife Gloria of Chelmsford, Steven and his wife Mary
of Winchester, VA. and Ralph Tennenbaum of Peabody. Devoted Grandmother of Ronald
Colosi, Jr. and partner Michelle, Carissa Campbell, Christopher Colosi and his wife Stephanie,
Amanda Johnson and her husband Derek, and Ashley Avery and her husband Demeterie.
Cherished Great-Grandmother of Sicilia and Ian Campbell, and Frances and Rose Colosi.
She was born (Feb. 10, 1925) and raised in Aberdeen SD where she claimed there were two
seasons, June and winter. Among many talents she played the coronet in the high school band
and effortlessly played the piano. She grew to become one of the most free-spirited and
optimistic individuals of her time. She may have been tiny in stature but she was a force to be
reckoned with. She never backed away from defending her view and the rights of others.
After marrying, She and Peter moved back to Everett MA where they made their home on 41
Arlington St. Although she had no training, she was the neighborhood nurse at a time when
people couldn’t afford to go to the doctor. Over a 17 year period she was a foster mother to 52
different children of every race, nationality and religion. She also was the Executive
Administrative Assistant to the President of AVCO Everett Research Laboratory by the time of
her retirement. One of Peter and Laurel’s ventures was owning 190 feet of oceanfront property
on Plum Island MA on which they ran a take-out stand. They also were avid square dancers
traveling to many parts of the country in their GMC motorhome and enjoyed cruises to many
foreign ports.
In the late 1970’s, they built a house in Wakefield MA which was home for 17 years. Eventually
retiring and moving to Sun City West, Arizona until 2013 before returning to the east coast.
She always instilled achieving and accomplishing as much as possible for all of her family and
had the most positive outlook on life that one could imagine. She was generous to a fault to her
family, especially the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her greatest joy came from being
surrounded by family.
Our family respects the wishes of Laurel and will not be holding a public viewing. Laurel will be
cremated and her ashes will be brought to Arizona to be buried with her husband Peter