Natalina “Nona” Maracchini Monti, 99, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Saturday, July 1, 2017, at home in Hibbing. Natalina was born in Montelago, a town in the Province of Ancona, Italy, on Dec. 20, 1917, to Nazzareno and Maria (Baldelli) Scipioni. While she didn’t make it quite to her 100th birthday, in her Italian view, she was 100 as she was in her 100th year of life.

She married Ernest Maracchini on Sept. 10, 1938. Following Ernest’s service in the U.S. Army in World War II, she, along with her first daughter Pierina joined him in Hibbing, where they made their home. Their family of four was complete with the birth of their second daughter Lillian in 1950. After Ernest’s unfortunate passing in 1970, Natalina later remarried a long-time family friend Joseph Monti in 1972.