Fiorella 'Fi' Adele (Mangolini) Martin died peacefully on October 17, 2012 after a three year battle with brain cancer. She was born on April 22, 1944 in the small town of Lucinpiccolo in the island of Cres in the Adriatic Sea. At the time of her birth that island was part of Italy. In 1945 it became part of Yugoslavia and later Croatia. Her father Giuseppe, an officer in the Italian Navy, was killed at the end of WW II by the Yugoslavian partisans. In 1946 her mother Vittoria, brother Enzo, Fiorella and their new adoptive father, Domenico Gortan, a major in the Italian Air Force, moved to Dezenzano di Garda in Northern Italy. In 1951 the family entered the US through Ellis Island and settled in Chicago, where Fi attended elementary and high school. In 1966 she graduated from Mundelein College in Chicago and taught Spanish at Niles Township HS in Niles, Ill. She married Carlos Enrique Martin, whom she had met during a study abroad trip to Spain, in 1966. They had two children, Lara and Eric. In 1969 the family moved from Chicago to Ellensburg, when Carlos Enrique became a faculty member of CWU.Her journey through life was varied and not always easy, but she met events and people with a beautiful smile, even in the last day of her illness. Those who met her during the many years she worked at Berry's Department Store in Ellensburg remember her sense of humor, her smile and laugh. She was a compassionate person who loved life, family and friends, nature, flowers, animals and art. She cherished the time spent with her grandchildren. She loved to travel and lived long periods of her life in Mexico, Italy, Spain, and Chile.She is survived by her husband Carlos Enrique, daughter Lara, son Eric, daughter-in-law Heather, grandchildren Marcus, Olivia and Mason, and brother Enzo.A funeral mass service will be held at St. Andrew's Catholic Church (401 S. Willow, Ellensburg, WA) at 1:00 PM on Friday, October 26, 2012.Memorial gifts may be made to the Central Washington University Foundation for the Fiorella & Carlos Martin Scholarship Fund (400 E. University Way, Ellensburg, WA 98926)Arrangements by Brookside Funeral Home & Crematory