Eda G. Mahan, a retired auditor and Baltimore Colts fan whose lavish Christmas breakfasts drew family members near and far, died July 4 in her sleep at a daughter’s home in Sparks. She was 97.

The daughter of Salvatore Dellospedale and Maria Pecora Dellospedale, Italian immigrants, the former Eda Genevieve Dellospedale was born in Baltimore and raised on Ensor Street in Little Italy.

She was a 1938 graduate of Seton High School, and two years later married Charles Ellsworth Mahan Sr., who later worked for the Port of Baltimore. He died in 1985.

The couple lived on Broadway until the late 1940s, when they moved to Melville Avenue in Waverly, then to Cockeysville in the 1970s. In the 1980s, she lived on Rider Avenue in Riderwood.

Mrs. Mahan worked for Sears & Roebuck and later for the Hecht Co. department store, in its fur department. For a number of years, she was an auditor for the state Department of Mental Health and Hygiene until retiring in 1982.

She was a longtime volunteer and trip coordinator for the Lutherville Senior Center and then the Cockeysville Senior Center until stepping down in 2012.

More than 100 relatives would appear for her annual Christmas breakfast, which featured Italian sausages and homemade waffles which she prepared from scratch, family members said. She also organized an annual family reunion that was held at a local park.

Even though the Colts moved to Indianapolis, Mrs. Mahan remained a diehard fan of the club, and was also an Orioles and Ravens fan.

She enjoyed playing cards and bingo.

Family members said that in 2006 she realized a dream when she traveled to Calascibetta, Italy — the area her parents left in 1907 to come to Baltimore.

Mrs. Mahan had been a communicant of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Cockeysville.

A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church, Overbrook and York roads, Rodgers Forge.

She is survived by two daughters, Philomena Deaver of Sparks and Patricia Ann Dobbs of Riderwood; a sister, Marie Stoecker of Parkville; 21 grandchildren; 38 great-grandchildren; and 18 great-great-grandchildren.

—Frederick N. Rasmussen