Long time Greenwich resident, John A. Zuccerella (86) passed away on February 20, 2021. John attended Greenwich Schools and graduated from Greenwich High School and the Williams School of Banking. During high school John would travel into New York City for singing lessons – always singing at high school events and weddings; people to do this day who knew him in high school still comment on his beautiful voice. In his later years, he would go with The Holly Hill Tones to sing at the nursing homes. After graduation from Williams College, John began a long and successful career in banking where he helped numerous people around Greenwich buy their first car, get their first mortgage or set up savings accounts for Greenwich’s future generations. Capitalizing on his relationships and charismatic personality, John embarked on a new career as a salesman at Greenwich Cadillac. This new career gave him great personal satisfaction and he was awarded numerous awards for Salesman of the Year.
He was married for 58 years to his love, Mary Ellen, before her death in 2018. Together they raised four children – Marylee, Joseph, John and Mark. He was the original “Soccer Dad” as he was always taking one of the kids to practice and going to any game or event they participated in – be it hockey, baseball or football, both in high school and college. Later in life when his grandchildren arrived you would see him watching baseball, football, basketball, lacrosse and field hockey games as well as karate events and dance recitals. He was very proud of each one of his grandchildren. In retirement, John and Mary Ellen loved to travel with his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Ed and Pat and their dear cousins, Ann and Richard. Always having a wonderful time filled with laughter, love and numerous funny stories. He also enjoyed his yearly summer trip to Cape May with his daughter, Marylee and her husband, Mark and their 3 children. Over the years more and more people started to go making more memories and countless funny stories. While he loved to travel, his greatest joy came from his weekly trips to Connecticut casinos with his wife and their egg sandwiches and coffee for the ride up. He was a man of great faith and attended Mass every day. Once his wife passed away and before COVID, he would spend time at the Greenwich Senior Center and at Tod’s Point where he would read the paper and people watch, sometimes striking up a conversation with complete strangers or bumping into old friends.
He was predeceased by his wife, Mary Ellen, his parents Minnie and Joseph Zuccarello and his brother Anthony, as well as his in-laws, Mary and Edward Neilsen. John is survived by his daughter, Marylee Nielsen (Mark), his sons Joseph (Luanne), John (Laura) and Mark (Jodie). As well as his 7 grandchildren – Stephanie, Lindsay and Mark Nielsen, John and Sofia Zuccerella and Cooper and Kasey Zuccerella.
A wake will be held at Castiglione Funeral Home on Friday, March 12 from 4 to 7 pm. The funeral Mass will be at Sacred Heart Church in Byram at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 13. Due to COVID if you would like to attend please call or text 203-559-9256 or send an email to sacredheartgrn@optonline.net to reserve a seat (please do by 3/11/21). There will also be a LIVE FEED of the funeral: https://youtu.be/tXroPCv7SHI. Burial will be at St. Mary’s Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers – donations can be made to: Silver Shield Association Educational Fund (EIN 81-3194644) – PO Box 8154, Greenwich CT 06836.
