As director of social services at Little City Foundation in Palatine, Paula Braghetta devoted her life to social work and helping others in need, friends said.
She worked at Little City for 25 years, until her retirement in 2002. The agency provides residential and other services to adults and children with developmental disabilities.
Mrs. Braghetta, 61, a former Palatine resident, died Tuesday, Sept. 27, in an Arizona hospital.
“She was a social worker in her career but she was a social worker in life too,” said Norma Keating, a friend and former co-worker. “There were no strangers in Paula’s life. Everybody was a friend. She did everything she could to help anybody.”
Bonnie Scardino, a program administrator at Little City, worked with Mrs. Braghetta for 17 years.
“More than just being a social worker, she was very close with our residents,” Scardino said. “They were very comfortable with her, and they trusted her. Everybody knew her. Everybody loved her.”
Mrs. Braghetta was born in San Francisco. She attended the College of Holy Name in San Francisco and met her husband of 39 years, Raymond, while living there.
The couple moved to Palatine in 1975. In 2002, they retired to Superstition Mountain in Arizona, and Mrs. Braghetta worked as a social worker at a retirement home and at a high school in Apache Junction, Ariz.
“It wouldn’t matter what was happening in her own life,” Scardino said. “She would put that to the side and make sure others were taken care of.”
Scardino said Mrs. Braghetta’s going-away party in 2002 drew a crowd.
“Residents, their parents and guardians and co-workers came,” she said. “It was just constant people.”
Scardino said residents knew Mrs. Braghetta was happy in Arizona, but they missed her and often asked about her.
“Everybody who met her gained something from her,” Keating said.
Keating said that in addition to her social work, Mrs. Braghetta was a gourmet cook and a great hostess. “She loved to entertain,” Keating said. “It would be perfect down to every detail.”
Mrs. Braghetta is survived by her husband and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial mass will be said at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Theresa Catholic Church, 467 N. Benton St., Palatine.
