Pamela Fiumara, Palmy Rago to the family and friends who knew her longest, of Medford and Boston’s North End, died on Thursday, October 29, 2026. She was 81.
She was born in Boston, the daughter of Nicolas and Teresa (Palmisano) Rago, and was married to Gerald Fiumara, who died before her. In a family of many branches she was the one everyone called first, the keeper of the old stories and the person who could get a room laughing at a funeral or a christening alike. Her children describe her as honest with advice, unconditional with love and impossible to replace.
She liked warm weather, a day at the beach, a keno ticket and, above all, a full house. The family’s instruction to anyone who wants to honor her is simple: be kind to strangers, give your time away, take a chance now and then, and love people as if there were no tomorrow.
She was the mother of Jody LaBella Connor and her husband Brian of Medford, Anthony LaBella of Lynn, Joseph Bondanza of Revere, Kathleen Maggelet and her husband Frank of Arizona, and the late Teresa LaBella. She was the grandmother of Bryan Connor and his wife Sarah, Jordana Varsell and her husband Eric, Alana, Nicholas and Sofia LaBella, and Rayna and Tayla Maggelet, and the great-grandmother of Francesca, Robert and Clark. She leaves her brother John Rago and his wife Pat of Revere, her sisters-in-law Sandra Rago of Everett and Annette Rago of Halifax, and Kelly Shaughnessy, the mother of three of her grandchildren, along with many nieces and nephews. Her brothers Richard, Joe and Jimmy Rago and her sisters Patty Mullen and Marie Rago died before her.
Visiting hours are Friday, November 6 from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Dello Russo Funeral Home, 306 Main Street, Medford, and again Saturday, November 7 at 9 a.m., followed by a 10 a.m. funeral Mass at Immaculate Conception Church, 600 Pleasant Street, Malden. Burial is private. In place of flowers the family suggests St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105.
Compiled from information published by Dello Russo Funeral Home. Photograph courtesy of the family via Dello Russo 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.
