PELHAM, NY (February 13, 2026) — Janet Passarelli Vacca, described by her family as a “happy and loving woman who brought warmth, laughter, and joy to everyone she met,” died peacefully on Feb. 8, 2026. She was 91.
Vacca was born March 31, 1934, at New Rochelle Hospital to Carmine and Helen (Chiodo) Passarelli.
She married Albert Vacca on Oct. 28, 1956, at St. Gabriel’s Church in New Rochelle. He died in 1997. Their marriage was marked by “laughter, travel, and good friendships,” according to her obituary.
A graduate of New Rochelle High School, Vacca earned a cosmetology degree and began her career as a hairdresser at Mario’s Beauty Lounge in Larchmont, where she worked alongside her sister Marie and brother-in-law. Even early in her career, she had “a gift for making people feel good, not just about how they looked, but about themselves,” her family said.
She later chose to stay home to raise her three children and was an active member of the Pelham Civics Association. Her home was known as a welcoming place, filled with “warmth, conversation, coffee, Entenmann’s cakes and card games.” She enjoyed playing cards with friends, where “the cards mattered less than the laughs, stories, and time spent together.”
Vacca enjoyed traveling with her husband and friends to Atlantic City, Las Vegas and St. Martin. In later years, she was an active member of the Pelham Senior Citizens Club and continued to vacation with family and friends.
She found happiness in music, especially the songs of Frank Sinatra and Alfio, and enjoyed playing Joker Poker machines “with enthusiasm and a smile, whether she was winning or not.”
“Above all else, Janet will be remembered as a happy woman; kind, social, stylish, and full of life,” her family said. “To Janet, everyone and everything was ‘amazing,’ a word she used often and sincerely, reflecting the way she saw the world and the goodness in it.”
She is survived by three children: Paul Vacca of New Rochelle and his children, Sierra and Skyler; John Vacca and his wife, Michele, of Valhalla and their children, Nicholas and Alexis; and Valerie Saccomanno and her husband, Pat, of Eastchester and their children, Dean and Jessica.
She was predeceased by her sisters, Loretta Zumpano and Marie Bell.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
A celebration of Vacca’s life will be held Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Pelham Funeral Home, 64 Lincoln Ave., Pelham. A Mass is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 575 Fowler Ave., Pelham Manor.
This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
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