Obituary of Alfred J. Yacomelli

Norman Dean Home for Services 16 Righter Avenue Denville, New Jersey 07834 (973) 627-1880 Star Ledger, web site—No, 1x with picture Monday Trenton Times 1x with picture Monday Daily Record 1x with picture Monday Neighbor News Alfred Yacomelli passed away on Saturday, October 6, 2012, in the home he and his wife Dorothy built themselves in 1956. He was 100. Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, Al spent his early years learning furniture design from his father, Alfred, a graduate of l’ Accademia di Belle Arti ("Academy of Fine Arts") in Florence, Italy. Alfred lost his father when he was 16, and finished Dickinson High School, and then Cooper Union, at night so that he could support his mother and sister. Graduating with a degree in engineering at the height of the Great Depression, Al found employment with the firm Gibbs and Cox, where he worked later on a number of wartime design projects. He met his wife, Dorothy, through a fellow engineer at that firm. They had been married over 68 years when Dorothy passed away in 2007. Later, Al moved to the New York office of Bechtel Engineering, and travelled globally on piping and chemical engineering projects. When Al and Dorothy decided to build a home in Lake Arrowhead, Al schooled himself to receive his electrician and plumber’s licenses so that, in addition to designing and constructing their home, he could also wire it and put the plumbing in it. He loved gardening, especially planting trees and azaleas, and helped design and improve Lake Arrowhead’s landscaping. One of the founding members of St. Catherine of Siena parish in Mountain Lakes, and one of its first ushers, Al helped the parish establish its existing church building on Pocono Road. An avid poll worker in his later years, Al kept tabs on the political scene up to a week before his death. He was active in the Rockaway Senior Citizens’ Club, and enjoyed traveling, especially to Italy, with Dorothy. Surviving Alfred are his three daughters, Nadine and her husband George Sharp, Ellen Mascia, and Lisa Yacomelli, six grandchildren, Cara Lynn, Melissa, Lynette, Johnine, Lawrence, and Alfred Joseph, and nine great-grandchildren, Jeffery, Ashton, Abby, Emmy, Livvy, Ciara, Vanessa, Serena Dorothy, and Steven Michael. Alfred’s funeral will be conducted from Norman Dean Home for Services 16 Righter Ave., Denville, NJ www.normandean.com, (please visit website and share memory by lighting a candle), on wednesday October 10th at 9:30am for a 10am Mass of Christian Burial service at St. Catherine of Siena Church Mountain Lakes, NJ committal and interment service at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover, NJ. Relatives and friends will be received on Tuesday October 9th at the funeral home from 4-8pm.