Maria Assetta of Wilmington, formerly of Saugus, died at home early on September 12, 2026 with her family around her. She was 75.
She was born in Melrose on May 27, 1951 to Angelo and Barbara (Aldrich) Calcagno, raised in Saugus, and started hairdressing school while still at Saugus High School, graduating in 1969 and finishing her certification on co-op; later she added a barber’s license. She married James Assetta in Saugus on September 26, 1970, and they would have marked 56 years this fall. They bought their home in Wilmington and raised two daughters there. She cooked, baked, gardened, sewed, refinished furniture, crafted, took ceramics, ran a Home Interiors business and had a weakness for chocolate.
Besides her husband, she leaves her daughters, Renee Carleen and her husband Hans, and Julie McGonigle and her husband James McGonigle IV; her granddaughters, Jacqueline, Michaela and Francesca; her brothers, Mario Calcagno and his wife Marsha, Angelo Calcagno and his wife Janet, Steven Calcagno and his wife Annette, and David Calcagno; and many nieces, nephews and cousins. Her brother Walter E. “Ed” Valentine died before her.
A funeral Mass is Saturday, October 10 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Thomas Church, 126 Middlesex Avenue, Wilmington. Arrangements are by the Nichols Funeral Home, Wilmington. The family suggests donations to the Disabled American Veterans, P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 45250.
Compiled from information published by Nichols Funeral Home. Photograph courtesy of the family via Nichols Funeral Home. This is our own summary, not the family’s obituary; read the full obituary and leave a condolence at the funeral home’s page on Legacy.com. Corrections: we will fix any error promptly.
