CHICOPEE – Mary Ellen (Rice) LaValley, 83, of Chicopee, was Called Safely Home on April 19, 2022 at home surrounded by her loving and caring family. She was born in Montague City on July 1, 1938, a beloved daughter to the late Russell and Mary Ellen (Barr) Rice. She was raised and educated in Turners Falls. While in high school, she was a standout basketball player and traveled all over Western Massachusetts showcasing women’s basketball. She married the love of her life and best friend, Richard D. LaValley on November 28, 1959 at Notre Dame Church in Easthampton and they spent 62 wonderful years together until his passing on January 6, 2021. She lived in Easthampton until moving to Chicopee in 1973. She retired to Bradenton, Florida in 1996 where she met some lifelong friends before returning to Chicopee in 2008. She worked at Western Mass Electric Company and then at Stanley Home Products in Easthampton and Westfield until her retirement. Mary Ellen was a communicant of the former Saint Patrick Church in Chicopee Falls and currently was a communicant of Sainte Rose de Lima Church in Chicopee. She was a member of the Pioneer Valley Chapter 8 in Granby. Mary Ellen loved listening and dancing to Polish music and followed the Eddie Forman Orchestra, a Western Massachusetts Polish Band. She leaves her three loving children, Donald R. LaValley and his wife, Nicky, and Brian E. LaValley and his wife, Michelle, all of Chicopee, and Mary Ellen Flemati and her husband, Marco, of Springfield; her eight cherished grandchildren, Brian LaValley and his wife, Elizabeth, Kristen LaValley, Geoffrey Flemati and his fiancée, Michelle Markham, Alyssa Flemati, Daniel LaValley and his fiancée, Lauren Basile, Robert Megit, Robert Robles and his fiancée, Anika Torres and Aleicia Gillum; her seven cherished great-grandchildren, Brian, Sophia, Carter, Pia, Aubrielle, Bailey and Zaiden; her two dear sister-in-laws, Nancy Rice of Kentucky, and Shirley LaValley of Worcester; her special nephew, Jason Rice of Kentucky, along with many other dear nephews, nieces, cousins and special friends. Besides her husband and parents, she was predeceased by her brother, Richard Rice. Mary Ellen’s family would like to thank Trinity Health Hospice and her personal care attendant, Amanda, for the wonderful care that Mary Ellen received over the past few months. Her Funeral will be held on Tuesday, April 26, 2022 beginning at the St. Pierre – Phaneuf Aldenville Chapels, (413-532-9806), 13 Dale Street, Chicopee, MA 01020, (funeral home will open at 8:30 a.m.), followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. at Sainte Rose de Lima Church, 594 Grattan Street, Chicopee, MA 01020. Her Burial will be private at Saint Patrick Cemetery in Chicopee. Her family will receive friends at the funeral home on Monday, April 25, 2022 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The parking lot and main entrance of the funeral home are located in the rear at 20 Lafayette Street, Chicopee, MA 01020. Her family request that memorial donations be made in her memory to the National Kidney Foundation, 30 East 33rd Street, New York, NY 10016 or the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research, 1820 West Webster Avenue, Suite 304, Chicago, IL 60614. For more details and to leave her family condolence messages, please visit: www.stpierrephaneuf.com