Rose L. Brillante Pace, 96, formerly of Hamden and North Haven until moving to Mesa, Arizona in 2005, died on June 5 at Emeritus at East Mesa, Arizona. She was the wife of the late Michael N. Pace. Born in New Haven on April 4, 1917, Rose was the daughter of the late Natale and Josephine DiDonno Brillante. She had worked as a clerk typist for the former Olin-Matheson Corporation of New Haven from 1954 to 1984 and later had worked in retail sales at different department stores in the New Haven area from 1985 until her retirement in 2001. Rose was a former member of the New Haven Women’s Club, the North Haven Senior Center, and with her talented hands she became quite a creative craftswomen. Rose was a real people person, always enjoyed meeting and talking with just about anybody she had met throughout her life, especially the many customers she had met when she was working, but most of all she truly enjoyed her family. She was the mother of Dr. Michael A. Pace, Jr. and his wife Arlene, and Ronald A. Pace and his wife Teresa; the grandmother of Michael S. Pace and his wife Rosanne, Steven P. Pace and his wife Dorothy, Robert M. Pace and his wife Jennifer, Sara E. Vincent and her husband Michael, and Dr. Caroline Clippinger and her husband Lyle; the great-grandmother of Sofia, Stefanie, Anthony, Alexandria and Korrina Pace, and Carly and Zachary Vincent. She was predeceased by her brothers Joseph and Bartholome Brillante and her sisters Raefaella Masotta and Antoinette Burke.

Her funeral procession will leave the North Haven Funeral Home, 36 Washington Avenue, on Wednesday, June 12 at 10:30 a.m. Family and friends may call from 9 to 10:30 a.m. A Mass of Christian burial will follow in St. Barnabas Church at 11 a.m. Interment will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Hamden. Should friends desire, memorial contributions may be made to Emeritus at East Mesa, 6145 East Arbor Ave., Mesa, AZ 85206.