KANSAS CITY -- Royals manager Matt Quatraro is back with the team after a two-game absence to attend the memorial service of his mother, Dorann M. Stagnitta, who died on Aug. 17 at age 84 after an illness.

Quatraro missed two games in late June to be with his mom when she fell ill. She passed away last month, and Quatraro stepped away from the team for the visitation on Monday and burial on Tuesday. Bench coach Paul Hoover stepped in as acting manager in Quatraro’s place.

“She had bounced back fairly well, but then she was 84,” Quatraro said. “So you don’t bounce back too much at that age from what I saw. But I was fortunate that the Royals, [general manager] J.J. [Picollo] and [majority owner] Mr. [John] Sherman said to take the time you need to grieve and be with family and friends.”

Watching baseball was one of Stagnitta’s favorite hobbies, Quatraro said, and she was there “every step of the way” for him through Little League, college baseball at Old Dominion, his Minor League career and coaching career, including his first big league managerial position with Kansas City.

“She was selfless,” said Quatraro, who lost his father, John, in 1975, and stepfather, George, in 2013. “She was a teacher. She was a great mom, great grandmother, someone that was there every step of the way. She had her insights into the game that she liked to share with me at times: ‘Tell the guys this, tell the guys that.’ But just selfless is really the word that comes to mind.”

An obituary posted by the Daniel Keenan Funeral Home in Albany, N.Y., described Stagnitta as an “always a supportive mom and wife, always an understanding ear, a diligent worker, incredibly steady and level headed all while being fiercely independent.” A teacher of 32 years, she taught elementary and middle school, as well as special education.

She was a baseball fan, too, Quatraro said, and helped foster his love for the sport.

“She was a fan of any team but the Yankees,” Quatraro said. “That was her thing. Living in New York, that was unique. She fostered it. But if I liked badminton, she would have been into that. That’s the kind of mom she was.”

Quatraro was grateful for the support from the organization, his coaching staff and players while he was away, but he’s happy to be back in the dugout to finish the final stretch of the season. The Royals entered Wednesday’s series finale against the Guardians on a seven-game slide and 5 1/2 games behind them in the American League Central, while holding the third Wild Card spot by 4 1/2 games.

“You want to be here every second of every day with these guys,” Quatraro said. “That’s what baseball is. It’s not a part-time sport. You do this every single day, day in day out, for six, seven, eight months hopefully. And when you’re not here, it really hurts. To see the guys struggling makes it even worse.”

Quatraro received support from the visiting dugout this week, too.

“Obviously, I’ve chatted with him, and my thoughts are with him and his family,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “I lost my mom during the season in 2016. It’s hard. You feel for him. I miss seeing him over there. I wish he would have been here and not going through what he is going through. This is a game. I realize this is a really important thing we get to do for a living, and it means a lot to a lot of people, and we recognize that, but at the end of the day, we are all humans and we all go through life. It doesn’t matter what you do for a living. You’re going to have the same emotions and feelings as everyone else.

“You have a job to do, but at the same time, there are things that are way more important than your job. And for [Quatraro], it was to be with his family and to celebrate his mother’s life.”