It is time to formally introduce one of our newer additions to the resident care staff at Decatur House: Mary Rapoza. Mary said she has always loved helping people and especially loves interacting with our residents. Her coworkers describe her as easygoing, and helpful with a nice positive energy. Mary describes herself as a true Cape Codder.
Mary grew up in Falmouth, where her parents, Dick and Terry Rapoza, owned a refuse-removal truck company and built their family home. Construction must have been in the family genes, because Mary and her three sisters-built tree houses, forts, and bunny trails where they played and rode their minibikes.
Mary hails from a family with many nurses, and graduated from Upper Cape Health Careers as a Certified Nurse’s Assistant, a career that has allowed her to pursue her deep desire to travel and see new places. Soon after graduating, Mary visited family in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Later, after the children were mostly raised, she and daughter Krista and her late son, Corey (see photo above), took a road trip that extended several years to Morro Bay, CA., The Big Sir Highway and the states and towns along the way to Solvang, California; making memories that she’ll treasure forever.
When circumstances changed, her little family decided to journey back home to Cape Cod where clambakes and cook-outs on Washburn Island beckoned.
Time back on the Cape has been especially meaningful to her small family. Now, Mary is on a different kind of voyage and pondering a return to school.
We are honored to be part of her journey and glad that Mary is a part of ours at Decatur House.
