Maria Linda Stall's Obituary
Maria Linda Stall was welcomed into the arms of Jesus at 8:20 pm on June 1, 2023.
Born in Detroit on March 26, 1960, Maria grew up in West Bloomfield, Michigan with her loving parents, three sisters, and two brothers. After graduating from West Bloomfield High School, Maria started her career, her ministry work, and six years later, her beautiful family of four kids—who she affectionately referred to as her “treasures.”
Maria loved studying God’s Word, volunteering, going to art festivals, watching Florida Gator football games with her family, working in her yard, ballroom dancing, creating and continuing traditions for her family at every holiday, birthday, and at weekly Sunday night family dinners. She was considered “our best friend, our rock, the glue of our entire family, the sun that we orbited around, our compass, and our strong Faith Warrior,” by her kids. They knew Maria was always there for them, pointing them toward God’s grace and wisdom, and constantly demonstrating what it looks like to be a follower of Christ by humbly and selflessly helping others. Maria was consistently there with love for her kids, supporting their involvement in healthy activities as they grew up. Maria’s unwavering commitment to her family continued into her children’s adult years then carried over to their spouses and two grandchildren. “We all call her Wonder Woman for a reason!”
After moving to the Orlando area with her family in 1997, Maria earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida (UCF), with the highest distinction of Summa Cum Laude, and the Founder’s Day Award three times. Maria was also a dedicated full-time employee at Finastra, noted for being hardworking, devoted, and beloved by her coworkers.
Even with a full family life and work, she was also a member of Northland Distributed Church in Longwood, Florida, a leader in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), and mentored women one-on-one each week. After the sudden loss in 2020 of her beloved husband, Dave Stall, Maria took what she learned about working through grief and eventually led others in the GriefShare “Loss of Spouse” group and the grief “Steps” group. Maria also donated and volunteered her time in many other volunteer activities throughout the years to support others in need, such as Alopecia awareness and research, helping children in poverty through World Vision, the Special Olympics, ChildFund, Baby DJ, and Give Kids the World.
Though she is preceded in death by her husband Dave Stall and her father Domenico Zugaro, Maria is survived by her four children: Michelle (Sick) Carroll (spouse: Michael), Steven Sick (spouse: Skylar), Ryan Sick (fiancé: May and her daughter Olivia), and Matthew Sick; her two grandchildren: Leah Carroll (age 7) and Caleb Carroll (age 1); her mother Joan Zugaro; her father-in-law Bob Stall; friend and father to her four children, Bill Sick (spouse and sister in Christ: Anna), her five siblings: Daniel Zugaro, Laura Zugaro, Michael Zugaro (spouse: Rene), Joan Hay, Jeanette Krikau (spouse: Tim); as well as a large extended Italian family.
A private graveside memorial service was held in Gainesville, Florida at Forest Meadows Cemetery on Friday June 9, 2023, officiated by family friend and Chaplain, Dan Wolf.
A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, July 22, 2023 at 10:30 am with a light reception to follow at Northland Church at 522 Dog Track Rd, Longwood, Florida 32750. All are welcome. Please wear any shade of blue/teal/turquoise to honor Maria.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Children’s Alopecia Project (CAP) in honor of Maria’s 7-year-old granddaughter, Leah Carroll. Maria (“Mimi”) was her biggest supporter, cheerleader, and advocate. www.childrensalopeciaproject.org.
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