Lilla Elizabeth - Ann (Lewis) DiTullio Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

PEPPERELL: Lilla Elizabeth-Ann DiTullio (née Lewis), 56, born September 7, 1964 on a US military base in Kenitra, Morocco, died in Pepperell, Massachusetts surrounded by her loving family on August 12, 2021. The daughter of Robert and Doris Lewis, Lilla was brought up in a loving home by parents who taught her the value of community and family. She excelled in school, earning a nursing degree from the University of Lowell (MA), where she met her husband, David DiTullio. Lilla joined the Air Force upon her college graduation, and eventually was stationed at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX with her husband. Lilla separated from the Air Force as a First Lieutenant, and she and David returned to Massachusetts to raise their growing family. A lover of reading and learning about history, Lilla took her children on numerous trips to historical places such as Boston, Gettysburg, Williamsburg, and Washington, D.C. When her children had children of their own, Lilla discovered one of her new favorite roles: that of being “Noni” to her three young grandchildren. She treasured the days when she watched them as well as other times when they visited. As a nurse, Lilla had a special place in her heart for the elderly. She worked at a nursing home in college, and after leaving the Air Force worked at Leominster Hospital, then the VNA of Leominster. She later settled into roles where she could spend her days working with the elderly--”my friends”, as she liked to call them--in adult day health settings. She had a unique ability to be present with them and to help them feel connected to other people. At her last two workplaces (CESI of Groton, MA and D’Youville of Lowell, MA), she listened to her friends’ stories, laughed with them, and cared for them in mind, body, and soul. Kind, welcoming, and gracious, Lilla found friends wherever she lived and worked. These friends remember her as being remarkable in her warmth for other people, as well as her ability to remember all her families’, friends’, and even acquaintances’ birthdays and anniversaries. She was witty and wise, funny and fierce in her love for her family and friends. Lilla was predeceased by her father, Robert Lewis. She is survived by her mother, Doris Lewis; her husband of thirty-four years, David DiTullio; her children: Kate DiTullio, Matthew DiTullio and his wife Felicia DiTullio of Milford, NH, and Rachel DiTullio Laird and her husband Stephen Laird of Nashua, NH; and her three grandchildren: Henry, Charles, and Isabella. Calling hours will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Thursday, August 19 at Anderson Funeral Home, 25 Fitchburg Road, (Rte 2A) Ayer. For additional information or to leave an online condolence please visit their website at www.andersonfuneral.com. Lilla’s Celebration of Life will take place the following day, August 20, from 11:00-12:00 at the Groton Country Club, 94 Lovers Lane in Groton, MA, with a luncheon to follow immediately afterwards. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Tucker Gosnell Gastrointestinal Cancer Fund at Massachusetts General Hospital in Lilla’s name.

Tributes

Lilla Elizabeth - Ann (Lewis) DiTullio

September 7, 1964 - August 12, 2021