Maria Walford-Dellù (1938-2023)

Maria Walford-Dellù, age 85, a resident of Wheaton since 1981, passed away at her Wheaton home on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.  She was born March 10, 1938 in Milan, Italy to the late Pietro Angelo Eligio Dellù & Angelica Dellù (née Quaroni). She has a younger brother, Dino Dellù, with whom she remained ever very close.

She attended Grammar School & High School, with emphasis in shorthand and typing in the Italian language, at the Scuola di Via Felice Casati, Milan, 1949-1953; and studied further Foreign Language courses (French & English, & shorthand in same), at the same school, 1952-56. Thereafter, from Sept. 1957- Jan.1959 she took English courses at the Technical College, Cambridge, England, receiving a Lower Certificate in English, The University of Cambridge.

She then worked, between 1959 and 1963, for various companies in Milan, Italy, as a Secretary, with shorthand, and as an Interpreter, in Italian, French and English, and principally for the International Engineering Company, Messrs. ITALFORNI, Milan, and never lost her passionate love for Italian culture.

In early 1963, she moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, at the invitation of Dr. Francis Schaeffer, of L' Abri, Huemoz, Switzerland, in whose Christian community she spent her weekends and free time for the next seven years, while teaching in various schools and Colleges, while also attaining the equivalent of a Master degree in Italian & French literature, and Art History, at the University of Lausanne. During these years she also traveled with Dr. Schaeffer, serving as his interpreter when he lectured in French or Italian venues.  She graduated from the University of Lausanne in 1970, with the State licence to teach at the University level in all three subjects.

Instead, however, at the invitation of Christian art historian, Professor Hans Rookmaaker, of the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, whom she had met at L'Abri, she moved to Amsterdam, and enrolled as a doctoral student, with scholarship, to study the influence of Italian on Dutch 17th c. art. However, in 1972 she met and married E. John Walford, an Englishman, also studying art history at the Vrije Universiteit, and soon started a family.

When they moved to Cambridge, England, Maria then, from 1976-81, taught privately, as well as at the Technical College, Cambridge, and at other schools, gave art history lectures at Wolfson College, and The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and served as translator for Dr. Patrick Steptoe (of Drs. Steptoe & Edwards in vitro fertilization, Bourn Hall Clinic, Cambridgeshire).

On moving to Wheaton, Il., in 1981, she gave Italian private lessons, and resumed doctoral studies in Italian Language and Literature, The University of Chicago, Ph.D., Aug. 2002 (diss. Pavese e la Critica [1941-2000], 300 pp., UMI Diss. Services, 2002). Thereafter, 2004-2017, she taught Italian Grammar for Singers, Conservatory of Music, Wheaton College, Illinois. She is the co-author, with Franco Vaccaneo, & E. John Walford, Alchimia degli Elementi: Sui sentieri  di Cesare Pavese: Immagini fotografiche di David Wittig, Rome: Pieraldo Editore, 2006.

She is survived by her husband of 51 years, (Ewan) John; her children, Samuel, Deborah (Danbom), and David, and their respective spouses, Ginger, Jeff and Aimee; her twelve grandchildren, her beloved brother, Dino Dellù, of Milan, Italy, and his son, Lorenzo Dellù. Above all else, she loved her family, and enjoyed preparing festive, colorful, and decorative meals for her family and friends, and for College students.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 20, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. a Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 29W260 Batavia Rd, Warrenville, IL 60555, (Phone 630-393-4400), and Memorial gifts may be directed there too.