b'DONOR SPOTLIGHTA VERITABLE\x02pirit of GIVINGFor a quarter-century, Vera DiCola served the common good through the Marianist MissionBy Alex Z. SalinasI f there is anything you should know about Vera and I were friends for 67 years, and, ifthe late Vera DiCola, who died Jan. 8 at age you knew Vera, she had many different aspects97, it is these three things: her passion for to her life, like a precious diamond that sparklesItalian cuisine, her thrill for travel and games of in the light, Marianist Brother Tom Giardino said. chance, and her charitable soula generosity It was at an Italian Sons and Daughters ofextended toward the Marianists that America meeting in Cleveland where Bro. Tomspanned 25 years. first met Vera, hitting it off and finding in her alifelong confidant and friend. Vera and I were I was a senior in high school, and we gotfriends for 67 years, into a long conversation about my joining theSociety of Mary, a discernment my parents werentand, if you knew Vera, happy about, Bro. Tom said. We continued toshe had many different meet and talk and talk. Vera was an extrovertaspects to her life, like beyond measure, but she was a good listener, too. a precious diamondThe daughter of a barber, Vera lived with herparents well into adulthood, having attendedthat sparkles in the Charles F. Brush High School in Lyndhurst, Ohio, light.and then the former Fenn College, which is nowVera DiCola Cleveland State University. She rented an Brother Tom Giardino, SM apartment across town after becoming an administrative assistant for Consolidation Coal,where she worked for decades while her stockin the company grew.Bro. Tom recalled an inquisitive woman in Vera.At restaurants, shed always talk to servers.She loved talking to people. She needed to talkto people. She wanted to know about things,he said. 6Call 1.800.348.4732'