Linda Marinelli Was Longtime Community Leader

Linda Marinelli, a longtime Oak Bluffs selectman who chronicled her life as a community leader and firebrand in a colorful memoir called Never Say Die, died on Thursday, Jan. 31 in Falmouth.

A devoted mother, political activist and fearless defender of open government, Mrs. Marinelli moved to Mashpee in 2009 to live with a daughter following the death of her husband, Charles, in 2008.

Visiting hours will be held in the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home on Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road in Oak Bluffs on Monday, Feb. 4 from 5 to 7 p.m. Her funeral mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, Feb. 5 in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church on Massasoit avenue in Oak Bluffs at 11 a.m. Interment will follow in the Sacred Heart Cemetery on Vineyard avenue in Oak Bluffs.

Born on Feb. 27, 1931, in Berkley, a tiny town outside of Taunton, she was a farmer’s daughter, the youngest of 12 children.

She moved to the Vineyard in 1957, where she met and married her Charley, her second husband. Together they ran a farm at what today is the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Property, Pecoy Point. For many winters, they ran a fish market and bay scallop shucking operation.

An emergency medical technician, she held a variety of town offices, serving on the Oak Bluffs Board of Selectmen from 1986 to 1999. In her 2002 memoir, written with the help of writer friend Cynthia Riggs, she wrote about her rough and tumble travels through the world of Oak Bluffs politics, with chapters including I Challenged Authority and The Fox Got Caught in the Chicken Coop.

Among her proudest accomplishments was securing public access to the beach at the mouth of Oak Bluffs harbor, over the protests of the East Chop Beach Club.

An online guest book is available at ccgfuneralhome.com. A complete obituary will follow in a later edition of the Gazette.

What is life to each of us is personal and sacred; how many times I've read stories about heroic men and women of my generation who sacrificed so much of themselves, their time to help others. They spoke out even if it meant being ridiculed by others, and stood their ground in the face of adversity if their cause was true. They are the courageous and bright light in a dark place where that light shines ever so bright even after they are gone from this earth. How I admire women today who give so much of themselves for others; even if they are never appreciated, or are seen at times as a barrier to others who have no idea what it means to give and never expect to receive anything back except...the life they lived was brighter than most others. And now their passing has left a mark for those of us who saw their worth; cared and shared their passion to fight for what is fair and just. Not many can come close to those attributes or qualities. May your memory live on in the hearts of others and people like me--a stranger and invisible in a world I barely recognize; but hope and faith; love of people long gone from our sight still are alive within each of us---because they gave more than most of us have the courage or will to.

ALTHOUGH SHE WAS A PAIN SHE WAS FIGHTING FOR THE ISLAND IN HER HEART.WE DONT HAVE THAT AS MUCH ANYMORE. I.E. THE 'ROUNDABOUT' RIGHT OR WRONG SHE BELIEVED WITH HER LIFE. R.I.P. MS LINDA

Once in a while I look thru the internet in my sadness reading about my mom. I was so happy Rosemary of New Bedford to read such kind words about my mom and what she stood for from someone (as you put) a stranger) Thank you! Towards the end of my moms courageous life she was afflicted with a cruel disease ( vascular dementia) every time people talked to her about her career she went back with such pride. I thank you for taking the time to write such beautiful things about mom and others in her shoes and want you to know I will always remember you as one of those that give of herself just because you can, just like mom. I only wish Mom could have heard your beautiful words about her it would have made her so happy!! Thank you from the depths of my heart. ((Hugs)) Charlene Maciel

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The Vineyard Gazette welcomes obituaries of people who have lived or vacationed regularly on Martha’s Vineyard. Submission deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday for publication in print on Friday. Obituaries will appear online and in print.

Comments (3)

Rose mary, New Bedford Massachusetts

February 2, 2013 - 6:56am

KERRITT, vineyard haven

February 19, 2013 - 3:50pm

Charlene Maciel, Mashpee

April 23, 2014 - 7:45pm

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Linda Marinelli Was Longtime Community Leader

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