LaVerne Roncalli

1936 - 2021

LaVerne Roncalli

New Brunswick - LaVerne Roncalli was born on August 13th, 1936, in New Brunswick, New Jersey and grew up in South River. Her father, Henry O. Schlegel, was the town's tax collector and her mother, Elizabeth Haag Schlegel, was a homemaker. Her older brother, Henry J. Schlegel, was a standout athlete, a veteran, and a civil servant. LaVerne graduated from South River High School in 1954, where she was active in many clubs, including the singing group, "The B Naturals." She was also a cheerleader and played on the girls' basketball team. She ended her senior year as class valedictorian. She then attended Douglass College, where she majored in Spanish and garnered several academic honors. She worked as a personal assistant at Johnson & Johnson, before leaving to teach 5th grade at the Willet School in South River. She met veterinary student Raffaele Roncalli Amici on a train in Paris during a summer European tour. They fell in love, married and lived happily ever after until his death in 2018, at age 91. With their son, Greg, they moved to East Brunswick in 1973. LaVerne enjoyed art collecting, cooking, and, above all, her nights at The Metropolitan Opera. She did charity work, making dolls and puppets for ill children at Robert Wood Johnson, back when it was called Middlesex County hospital, and when kids liked dolls and puppets. Until her later years, she relished shopping trips, particularly for shoes. Ferragamo. LaVerne Roncalli was the epitome of the selfless wife and mother. A woman of her time, while extremely bright and well-educated, she prioritized family over career. There were days when she'd stay up late at night, type her husband's veterinary papers, drive her son to a school twenty miles from East Brunswick, and then go to work at the import/export division in her second turn with Johnson & Johnson. She never complained. Her energy was boundless. She took care of family finances, successfully investing in the stock market and real estate. She and Raf traveled the world together, and spent the last five years of his career living in Tokyo, where she loved her picture window view of The Imperial Palace. She didn't have an enemy in the world, except, perhaps, the substitute mailman who told the regular carrier he found LaVerne's singsong voice annoying. No one else felt that way. LaVerne passed away in her own bed, in her own home, of natural causes. She is survived by her son, Greg, and her nieces Susan Sciora and Sharon Krauss of Matawan, New Jersey, and Daniela and Paola Silvestrini of Rome, Italy. She was also beloved by Greg's godmother, Genevieve Norante, his girlfriend, Judy Steiner, and by LaVerne's dedicated caretaker, Marina Jincharadze, among many, many others.