Mary C. Nylen

Mary C. Nylen, 103, of Milford, beloved wife of the late Hubert Nylen, passed away on November 28, 2022. Born on March 1, 1919, in Waterbury, CT, she was the daughter of the late Charles and Mary (Riccardi) Cianciolo.

In addition to her life as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, great aunt, great great aunt, Mary also attended the Perry School of Business and worked for years at Clayton’s and Michael’s Jewelers. She was an avid golfer well into her eighties and an equally avid UCONN Huskies fan (she considered both Tiger Woods and Diana Taurasi to be extended family).

For over half of a century, Mary’s home served as a perpetual hub for the extended Cianciolo family—a place that was both a connection to the past and a refuge in the tumultuous present. It was where you stopped to rinse the sand from your feet after swimming at the beach. It was where you went for a piece of Entenmann’s cake (the secret to Mary’s longevity). It was where you listened to Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby and where you watched the bygone stars of the silver screen dance in technicolor across the television in the den. It was where you went when you had nowhere else to go and you needed kindness and care and the quiet presence of someone who doled these rare gifts out every moment of her 103 years of life. In other words, it was home—not just for Mary and her immediate family, but for so many who needed Mary as a touchstone to something real and genuine and comforting. With her passing, her family mourns the disappearance of so much more than an individual, but they also celebrate the life that made this haven possible and necessary.

Mary is survived by her children, Richard Nylen and Lynn (James) Miranda; her grandchildren, Richard (Wendy) and Sotheary Nylen, and James (Lauren) and Matthew Miranda; her great grandchildren, Luna, Marco, Avner, and Kellan. She is also survived by her sister, Joan, and all of her cherished nieces and nephews.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, December 2, 2022 at 11 a.m. at Saint Ann Church (Saint Raphael Parish) 501 Naugatuck Ave., Milford, CT (MEET DIRECTLY AT CHURCH). Interment will follow at Saint Mary Cemetery, Buckingham Ave., Milford, CT. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Food2Kids at www.milfordfood2kids.org. 

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