Amelia Motto Sparks

Amelia Motto Sparks 1927-2015 of Massillon, died peacefully on Christmas day surrounded by family. She was 87. Amelia Marie Motto was born in 1927 in Canton to Nicholas and Marie Motto. The youngest in her family, she grew up with three sisters, the late Phyllis Books, the late Kathryn Cunningham and the late Frances Werstler, in a household that was tested by their mother's early death. She was educated at St. Anthony's Catholic School and McKinley High School. After training at a women's business college in Cleveland, she took a job at the old Mercy Hospital in downtown Canton as a nurse's aide and later in the office of Dr. Robert Graham as a medical secretary. In 1948, she was introduced by friends to her future husband, John Sparks. They married in 1952 and a few years later moved to Massillon, her husband's hometown, where they raised three children. In the 1970s, she worked as a sales clerk at Baltzly Drugs on Erie Street, sang in the choir at St. Barbara's Catholic Church and volunteered at Tigers football games with the Tiger Swing Band Parents Association. It was in later years that she found a passion for the Massillon Museum, spending twenty-five years as both a volunteer and on staff, greeting the public and attending the front desk and community rooms. Amelia will be remembered for her wit and humor, her knack for recalling obscure song lyrics and poetry, and for her devotion to family and community. She is survived by her husband of 64 years, John Sparks, three children, Bill Sparks (Anne) of Berkeley, California, James Sparks(Oliver) of New York City, and Mary Sparks McMunn (Gregg) of Bexley, Ohio, and three grand children, Colleen and Adam Sparks and Heather Haringa, and two great-grand children, Ella and Lily Haringa. A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, December 30th at 10 o'clock at St. Barbara's Catholic Church. Committal will follow at Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call on Tuesday from 5 to 7 pm at the Paquelet Funeral Home. Memorials to Amelia may be made to the Margy Vogt Photography Endowment of the Massillon Museum. Messages of support and sympathy can be sent to the family at www.paquelet.com.