Obituary of Marie Grace Vaccaro

Marie G. Vaccaro (February 7, 1924- September 19, 2021)

Marie G. Vaccaro (nee Di Chiara) 97, of West Orange, NJ passed away at home on Sunday, September 19, 2021.Visitation will be Wednesday, September 22, 2021 from 4:00 to 8:00 PM at the Dangler Funeral Home 340 Main Street, West Orange, NJ. A Funeral Mass will be offered on Thursday, September 23, 2021 at 10:00 am at Saint Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, 44 Benvenue Ave., West Orange. Interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover.  In lieu of flowers, donations are requested to Camp Fatima of NJ, PO Box 654, Harrison, NJ 07029. 

Marie was the daughter of Giuseppe and Emilia (nee Mastroianni) Di Chiara of Maddaloni, Italy and Newark, N.J. She was a native of Newark New Jersey until 1984 when she moved to Bloomfield and then to West Orange in 1993. When she moved to West Orange she told her daughter Amy, “you put me in the country!”

In the 1940’s and early 1950’s she was a seamstress at the Newark Slip Factory. She could sew and repair anything (and crochet too)! She stopped working outside of the home when she had children.

After her husband unexpectedly passed away, she raised her three children (Fred 15, Richard 12 and Amelia (Amy) 8) as a single parent while also caring for her elderly father. Although she did not graduate high school because she left 6 months shy of graduation to help support her family during WWII, all of her children received advanced college degrees. Let’s not forget her years assisting her brother Andy and sister-in-law Gay, selling “Andy’s Red Hots” hot dogs from a truck parked on Bloomfield Avenue and North 13^th Street! Marie worked mainly for Horizon Blue Cross & Blue Shield of New Jersey as a file clerk and supply manager for 12.5 years until her retirement in 1990. They missed her so much that they asked her back on a part-time basis for several years. Always organized to a tee!

Marie was a die-hard Mets fan. She also ran bowling leagues for school aged children at the Stadium Bowling Alley in Newark for many years, and delighted in attending the concerts and athletic events of her grandkids Michael and Erin when they were young. Many in the Camp Fatima of NJ family knew her as “mom” because of her daughter Amy’s 46-year association with camp. She did a great deal of “behind the scenes” work for the organization.

Marie leaves behind her son Richard and his wife Renee Joyce and their kids Michael and Erin, and daughter Amy and her husband Augie Ricciardi. In total she had five grandchildren plus many God children and nieces and nephews. Many will miss Marie’s sincere tough love approach to life, especially Richard, Amy and her breakfast buddy, Augie.

You instilled in us that “anything is possible with hard work and determination”.