Stephen Vaccaro

Junior

There wasn’t a room that Steve Vaccaro ever walked into that wasn’t made better, a conversation he joined that wasn’t instantly funnier. He lived 83 years and if a man is judged by the volume of joy he generated and the level of laughter for which he is responsible he would be given credit for twice that much time.

Known from childhood as “Junior” in honor of his beloved father – also Stephen Salvatore – Steve passed away peacefully on Sunday, Nov. 12, aged 83. His absence leaves a void in the hearts of an endless array of friends and his tight-knit family, all of whom were deeply touched by his loyalty and dedication to the people he loved and the way he seized every day of his life.

Born Dec. 23, 1939 in Corona, Queens, Steve worked many years for both the United Parcel Service and for the New York Daily News.

He was a lover of good music as well as a gifted musician himself. His older brother, Mickey, who himself was a professional trumpeter for many years, often said: “He had the most astonishing range of anyone I ever heard play in person. It gave me chills every time.” At every wedding he ever attended he would delight fellow celebrants with his light-footed dancing, and every family gathering would be punctuated by the sweet melodies of his gentle whistle, another gift he shared with his big brother.

“You’ve heard of dueling banjos,” Mickey once said. “We’re dueling falsettos.”

He was also a longtime golf aficionado and managed to collect five holes-in-one in his career, and he was fond of saying, “I don’t hit it a mile, but I usually know where it’s going,” and he was true to that with every swing.

Steve’s proudest and grandest legacy, though, were his three children, to whom he devoted his life, and who returned that devotion in his final days. To watch Laura, Stephen III and Dena in their father’s company was to see two generations of affection sprinkled liberally with jokes, one-liners and fond stories about growing up in the vast network of Corona Vaccaros and Ferraros.

Survivors include his children: Laura (Scott) Lowy; Stephen III (Diana); and Dena (Todd) Nordt and three grandchildren: Justin Lowy, Zachary Vaccaro and Massimo Vaccaro, as well as his former wife, Geri Mulea, three nieces and a nephew. He was predeceased by his parents Stephen and Lucy (Ferraro), a brother, Michael (Ann), and a sister, Rosemary (Joseph) LaPiana, as well as his companion of 35 years Vivian “Viv” Endall.