Having lost her sister and mother to dementia, Marie began experiencing cognitive impairment in her seventies despite being in remarkable physical health. The independent life that Marie had always lived faded, and her days became regularly marked with anxiety and frustration with the inability to remember names, losing her car, not remembering where she had been or what she had done, and over the years, forgetting one by one, the activities that she had done so seamlessly on a daily basis. Over the last decade of her life, the memories of the life she had so enjoyed living continued to vanish leaving her isolated and afraid as she no longer recognized her family and friends, and she would often plead to "go home" not knowing she was in the very home she loved so much. Marie became fully dependent and unable to care for herself, and she required around the clock care which was very stressful for Marie who still wanted to do things on her own, but was not safely able to. Marie succumbed to dementia at 88 years old.

However, even in her final years when she required full care, Marie's true caretaking nature still prevailed - when one of her caretakers broke her ankle and was in a wheelchair, Marie would try to take care of her and even pushed her around in her wheelchair. The Marie M. Puerini Foundation honors Marie's dedication to caring for others, and she would be proud to know that her legacy will live on through the Foundation, in the hopes of helping individuals with Alzheimer's and dementia and their families to fight for an end to these diseases and to receive the high level of care and support they deserve.