Louis J. Gonnella, of Lexington and Nantucket,passed away at home on June 13, 2007. He was born in Barga,a small, Tuscan, hill town in Italy, in 1935 to Dr. Giovanni Pietro Gonnella and Leonella Pieroni Gonnella. He and his younger sister Laura, spent the war years in Italy in prison-like conditions in the basement of their parent's home which had been occupied by General Kesselring of the German High Command. His physician father had been taken prisoner of war while his mother secretly worked as a spy for the allied forces. The family came to this country in 1946.

Louis graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. in 1954 and then from Harvard College with an AB, Magna Cum Laude, in 1958. While at Harvard law school he married Bee Dyer.

He took his first job with the Boston Legal Aid Society and athen the Office of Economic Opportunity where he participated in opening community law offices for the poor of East Boston. He received his appointment as District Court Judge in 1973 from Governor Frances Sargent. He retired after 20 years on the bench.

A man of humane letter, Judge Gonnella enjoyed scholarly activities, especially theatre, film and great books. As a historian, he specialized in Italy's involvement in WWII. As a judge, his opinions were rarely overturned and he later often concurred with the appellate decision.

An oenophile of considerable talent, he enjoyed a superb wine cellar as well as schooling his children in the art of wine tasting. He will be greatly missed.

He is survived by his wife Bee, of 47 years, three son: John, Paul and Mark and a daughter, Lisa Gonnella McGlinn, as well as his sister, Laura Gonnella Philipp. He has 4 nieces, 2 nephews and ten grandchildren.