Mrs. Maria Rosario Fontanez Delgado

May 29, 1948 - November 4, 2015

MARIA ROSARIO FONTANEZ DELGADO 1948 - 2015 Maria (whose nickname was "Cookie") was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico on May 29, 1948 to her parents Santa Rojas and Eustaquio Delgado. Maria migrated with her family to Brooklyn, New York circa 1958 where she spent her teenage years and graduated from Canarsie High School. The Delgado family then migrated to Philadelphia when Maria was about 20 years old, and they settled near the Fontanez family in Fairmount. She would reunite with her childhood friend, Jose, and they both lived at 2121 Green Street, in adjoining apartments with their parents. Maria and Jose found themselves often recounting the times they would spend courting each other, inspired by the song, Knock Three Times, by Tony Orlando and Dawn. They married in 1967 in a spectacular double wedding with Maria's sister, Carmen, and brother-in-law, Michael Santiago. Maria spent over 50 years in Philadelphia where she spent a lifetime caring for others along the way. After a brief stint in factory work, alongside her sisters whose talents as seamstresses outshined her own, Maria worked in service with the School District of Philadelphia as a teacher's assistant. There she would find interest in the development and safety of young minds, whom even today are exemplified by the numerous nephews and nieces who looked for their Titi Cookie, when visiting her home in the Spanish Village on Green Street. Maria had a fun, and some might say glamorous, side of her personality. She worked for a few years in cosmetics at Gimbels, where she learned the art of makeup and fashion. Maria always looked her best, and her positive demeanor and friendly smile made her a unique addition to the role she would play at Hahnemann University Hospital, where she spent over 35 years as an Emergency Room Registrar. There she learned from and befriended many of the same doctors, nurses and practitioners that would later care for her medically and become some of her most trusted friends. Since 2008, Maria triumphed over Multiple Myeloma, a rare blood cancer that would ultimately weaken her body. But for family and friends who knew her well, it was Maria's strong mind, spirit and embrace of life that will remain forever in our hearts. Maria is survived by her husband, Jose, and her two sons, Frankie and Jorge, along with their spouses, Courtenay and Maurice, and grandson, Sol. She was the youngest of her surviving sisters---Lydia, Luz, Santa, Maria Victoria, Milagros, and Carmen--AND NOW SHE JOINS HER MOTHER AND FATHER, HER STEP-FATHER, MARCELO, HER BROTHER AND SISTER MANUEL AND ESTHER, AND HER NEPHEWS WILLIAM TORRES AND JOHNNY BENITEZ, IN THE NEXT LIFE.. CELEBRATION OF LIFE A Memorial Service will be held on Monday, November 9, 2015 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Dinan Funeral Home, 1921-23 Spring Garden St., in Philadelphia. Funeral Services will be held on Tuesday, November 10 at SS. Peter & Paul Cathedral Basilica (Chapel) at 10 a.m., followed by interment at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in memoriam to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Donation pages have been created, with URL links provided below: ST. JUDE: http://giftfunds.stjude.org/mariafontanez and MULTIPLE MYELOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION: http://support.themmrf.org/goto/spanishvillagers. Condolences may be sent to www.dinanfuneralhome.com