Obituary of Joan Marie DelVecchio

Joan Marie Roberts Del Vecchio Joan, age 92, passed away peacefully after a brief illness on Friday, February 13, 2026 at the Cortland Guthrie hospital. Joan was born on December 13, 1933 in Utica, NY. She was the only child of the late Bernard Louis Roberts (Robakowski) and Pearl Sebastian Roberts. Joan grew up in the Utica area and attended Utica Free Academy. When she was 3 or 4 years old, her parents moved the family into a newly built house located at 123 Branch Street in the Deerfield section, north of the city of Utica. Her father lived in that house for the rest of his life. With Joan's help, Pearl sold the house in the late 90s and moved to Florida to live with Joan and George who were living there while taking care of George's parents. Pearl lived with Joan for twelve years, until her death in 2003. Joan met George Del Vecchio in Potsdam, NY where she was attending Potsdam College/Crane School of Music and George was attending Clarkson College in Engineering. They had an "instant connection" according to Joan. Joan was a first chair violinist, and her greatest musical accomplishment was playing at Carnegie Hall in the winter/spring of 1952. They both graduated in June of 1955 and then married in October of that same year. Joan and George started their family right away and lived in the suburbs of NYC in NJ when first married, then several years in Webster NY until they finally settled at their home on beautiful Sodus Bay, NY in the early 1960s. Joan was a busy stay-at-home Mom to seven children. She is survived by all seven children: Deborah Phillips (Frank), Cindy Showman (Jim/deceased), Cheri O'Connor (Timm), Suzanne Glenn (Bill), George Jr. (Beth), Penny Munro (Jim), Christine "CJ DelVecchio" Croft (Norm), 21 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, George Del Vecchio. Joan spent much of her life raising her seven children and another one of her proudest accomplishments was instilling the love of education in them. They are all college graduates, including several with advanced degrees. Other than her husband George, they were the light of her life. After their parents all passed on, Joan and George traveled around the country in an AMC Coach RV, attending gatherings with other Coach owners. She also enjoyed knitting, crocheting, reading, feeding the birds and tending to her many plants. She also loved ice hockey and watching games of the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers and the Buffalo Sabres. A service for Joan is planned for the Spring 2026 with final interment thereafter in the Robert's family plot at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Whitesboro NY. Donations in memory of Joan Del Vecchio can be sent to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at www.StJude.org ("dedicate your gift") or the Sodus Bay animal rescue center Cracker Box Palace at www.crackerboxpalace.org