Joanne Elsie Mallett, 75, died peacefully at her home in East Boothbay on the morning of March 5, 2016.

She was born May 24, 1940 and was raised in the Bronx and South Hampton, New York.

Joanne’s mother came to America in the early 1900s from Sweden and her father, also born in New York, was the son of a German immigrant. Joanne was their only child.

She was educated within the New York Catholic school system and after graduating from the Academy of Mount Ursula, she attended the Julliard School of Dance in New York City.

Later, Joanne got engaged and married Joseph Paolillo, who was also from New York and the son of a New York entrepreneur. In the late 1970s, they relocated to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and raised two children, Joseph and Elizabeth. In the early 1980s, her husband became very ill and died in 1982. Joanne and her children lived at home until her children entered college.

Her husband Ernest writes: “Later in 1984, on one of my trips back to Florida, I stopped by and visited with Joanne and the children. Back in the 1970s, we were all neighbors and our two families became very good friends. After this visit, we visited again and that visit led to another, which later became a very serious and loving romance. Our love grew and together we became inseparable. After 28 years of being engaged to Joanne, we mutually and finally agreed it was time to get married. Joanne and I were together for 32 wonderful years and enjoyed every moment of that time. Every day until the morning she passed, we always told each other how much we loved each other. I will always miss Joanne; she was truly a wonderful and loving wife. There will only be one Joanne for all of us. She loved her family, her grandchildren and her many, many friends. My heart has been broken and she will be in my memories forever.”

Besides her husband, Ernest Mallett, Joanne is survived by her two children, Elizabeth DiGiulian, and her brother, Joseph Paolillo; her son-in-law, Angelo DiGiulian; her daughter-in-law, Dana Paolillo; and four grandchildren, Ashley and Elizabeth DiGiulian and Joseph and Olivia Paolillo.