It is with heavy hearts that we announce that Joseph Paul Todaro II “shuffled off this mortal coil” on October 18th, 2021, after an epic battle with cancer.
He will be remembered by his loving wife Marion, his twins Michael Todaro and Julie Todaro-Lawser and their long suffering spouses, Erin Schwab and Matthew Lawser, his adoring grandchildren Brian, Sophia, Jack and Christopher, his (always humming) loving sister Jetta, his other sister Julie , and best friends Jimmy Forsythe, Vince Sabia, and Paige Pinkett, as well as a host of nieces and nephews who loved and adored him.
He was born on March 8, 1945, in San Francisco, California, to Samuel P. Todaro and Phyllis Tinsley Todaro. He was raised in Austin, Texas, and graduated from St. Edward’s University with a degree in English.
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Cemeteries are important links with Stafford’s history, but they are often targets for vandals.
For over three centuries, Stafford was a rural area, its landscape dominated by quiet fields of cattle and sheep and forested hills.
Dotted over the whole were modest farmhouses, outbuildings, ponds, and fences. Most farms included a family cemetery just a short distance from the house.
Inscribed headstones were a luxury few could afford and in Stafford’s 400 or so known family cemeteries. Most graves were marked simply with pieces of rock.
“Aunt Sue” or “Granny” kept up with who was buried beneath which rock. Many of these cemeteries were forgotten as families died off, moved away, and farms were sold. Rampant development has resulted in the loss of countless small family plots.
The Stafford County Historical Society is currently working with the Stafford Cemetery Committee to repair and re-install one such marker. This is for Lucy (Latham) Ennever (1777-1852).
Lucy’s beautifully carved marble stone was removed from its cemetery years ago and taken to a house in Richmond. Thanks to John Shuck of the Henrico County Historical Society, Lucy’s marker has come back to Stafford. It will be returned to the family cemetery, where her footstone still stands next to the grave of her husband, Joseph Ennever (1770-1848).
This marker requires professional repair before it can be reinstalled in its proper place. It will cost $3,900 to repair, clean, and reset the stones, including removing two trees from the gravesite.
The Stafford County Historical Society is accepting donations for this and future gravestone repairs. You may donate online, or you can mail a check to:
Treasurer
SCHS
P. O. Box 1664
Stafford, VA 22555
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Local Artist and Teacher Deb Balestreri is thinking bigger!
Balestreri has been teaching for the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg since 2009, at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton since 2008, and in her home studio since 2020, but she is ready to make a more permanent, community, location happen, right here in Stafford.
On August 1 Balestreri launched a Kickstarter to help raise funds to begin the build-out of a new Community Arts Center in Stafford and it’s well on its way to seeing success.
Balestreri wants the community of Stafford to know, this would be a center for them and their families and she’s offering some sweet campaign benefits when you pledge support.
Time is of the essence though and the pressure is on because she has only 35 days to meet her goal of $40,000 to make this dream center happen.
Visit her campaign, pledge your support, share with your neighbors and help spread the word! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/corgiclay/corgi-clay-arts-center
Submit your community post here.
