Mario Chester Carota passed away at his Hollister residence on June 17th, 2017 at the age of 96 years.

Mario was born in Arnold Pennsylvania on May 10, 1921 to John and Anna Carota and raised in Roosevelt, New York.  He studied ceramic engineering at Alfred University in New York where he took up flying.  He joined the Navy during WWII and was a flight instructor and member of a special drone project for that service. He married Estelle Field on December 24, 1942 and raised a family of nineteen children. He worked as a teacher, an atomic engineer at the University of California Berkeley, then as a consultant in community development. He is best known for his work as a lay missionary in Mexico where he built two schools, a trade center and a hospice house. In his later years he cared for his ailing wife and built over seven hundred stained glass crucifixes which he donated to all. He will be truly missed for his courage and his smile.

Donations are preferred to St. Vincent de Paul c/o the mortuary.

A Mass of the Resurrection will be held on Friday, June 23rd at 10:00 a.m. at St. Benedict Church, 1200 Fairview Road, Hollister. Interment will follow at Calvary Cemetery, 1100 Hillcrest Road with local VFW Post 9242 providing full military honors. A reception will follow at St. Benedict Hall.