Katherine "Kay"

Emanuella Stec

Kay passed away peacefully on Friday August 12th into the arms of her beloved lord and savior.  She had just recently marked her 100 ^th birthday.

One of seven children she was born with her twin sister in Chelsea to Italian immigrants, Vincenzo and Maria Michelina (Delli Gatti) Barbieri on April 29th, 1922.  She was a lifelong resident of Chelsea, growing up in the waterfront area of Chelsea.  She first worked at her father's convenient store "Jimmy's", on the corner of Beacon and Tremont Streets.

She attended Shurtleff and Chelsea High School.  Completing the 9th grade, she left school and began working with her twin sister at Beacon Rag Co., on Marginal St in Chelsea.

She was married to Stanley J. Stec for 69 years and together raised three daughters,.  Kay was passionately devoted to home and family, also welcoming her four grandsons, who she thought the world of.

As a young lady, Kay sang on local Radio Shows.  And when her daughters attended the Shurtleff School, she was active in the PTA planning and organizing fashion Shows, cake sales, talent shows, even appearing on stage with Kay Dwyer, Connie Santagate-Landers and other parents.   She had many talents in addition to singing, she would draw and paint portraits and still life pictures, as a seamstress she could sew anything.

She was a well-known and beloved member of the Chelsea Senior Center where she ran Bingo Games and other activities.  She was a past member of the Cpl. Frank Barbieri Lodge Sons of Italy and the golden Age Club.  She and her late husband were once active in the Chelsea Knights of Columbus and other local organizations.  She lived her entire life in the same Chelsea neighborhood and spent her final years at living at Chelsea Village on Admirals Hill.

In addition to her parents Kay was predeceased by her beloved husband Stanley J. Stec in 2011, her twin sister Feliciana "Phyllis" T. Mullen and husband John, and siblings Angela Navoy and husband Tony, Matthew J. Barbieri and US Army Cpl. Frank Barbieri (KIA), her in-laws, Edward Diamond, and Ann "Peachie" Barbieri.

She is lovingly survived by her daughters and their spouses; Catherine Stec of Chelsea, Patricia Grabowski and her husband Dennis of Hanover, Susan Bellofatto and her husband Anthony of Malden.  Cherished grandmother of Jonathan G. Grabowski and his wife Vanessa Therrien, Matthew J. Grabowski and his companion Julie Carnes, Anthony C. Bellofatto, and Nicholas J. Bellofatto and his fiancé Karine O'Loughlin.  Dear sister of John J. Barbieri of Danvers and Marie Diamond of Chelsea.

She is also survived by many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, extended family members and friends.

Visiting hours will be held from the Welsh Funeral Home, 718 Broadway, Chelsea on Friday August 19th from 4 - 8 P.M. Relatives and friends are most kindly invited to attend.  Funeral from the Welsh Funeral Home on Saturday August 20th at 9:00 A.M.  Followed by a funeral mass at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 250 Revere St., Revere at 11:00 A.M.  Services will conclude with interment at Holy Cross Cemetery, Malden.