Jacqueline Sessa of Wading River died at her home on Feb. 11, 2021. She was 70 years old. The cause was cancer.
She was born in Brooklyn on June 20, 1950, the daughter of Anthony and Angelina DiMaio.
She grew up in the Boro Park section of Brooklyn and from a very young age spent summers with her family at their home in Wading River.
She graduated from FDR High School and then attended the Taylor Business Institute. She went to work for Sears, Roebuck and Company as a secretary and worked her way up to assistant buyer of women’s clothing.
In February 1971, she met her future husband Frank at a nightclub in Brooklyn where they’d each gone to see a band perform. After dancing, she reluctantly agreed to get a bite to eat at a nearby diner and they were together ever since.
After dating for over a year, she told Frank, “We’re in love, why don’t you just propose and get it over with?”
They were married on June 16, 1974 in St. Catherine’s of Alexandria Church in Brooklyn. They moved to Wading River in 1975.
In April, 1976 she and her husband opened Jaqueline’s bar on Hulse Landing Road. Later, she worked in the Shoreham-Wading River School District. Then in 2014, she went to work at the Birchwood of Polish Town, a family-owned restaurant and catering hall she operated with Danielle, Frank, and her two younger children, Angelica and Frank Jr.
A mother of a special needs child, she became an advocate for special needs children and their families and established and ran a weekly recreation program for special needs children in Shoreham-Wading River.
She loved the beach and couldn’t stand being away from Long Island, her family said.
Jacqueline loved children of all ages and abilities. She was an animal-lover, and especially loved her dogs.
“She had a heart of gold and her generosity knew no bounds,” her family said.
She is survived by her husband Frank of Wading River, her daughters, Danielle of Baiting Hollow and Angelica of Wading River and her son Frank Jr. of Wading River. She is also survived by her sister, Ann Vaccaro.
The family will receive visitors on Wednesday, Feb. 17 from 2 to 9 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 21, from 1 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. at the Alexander-Rothwell Funeral Home, 6447 Route 25A, Wading River. (There will be no visitation on Thursday.)
A Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Monday, Feb. 22, at 11 a.m. at St. John the Baptist R.C. Church in Wading River. Interment will follow at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.
Editor’s note: Visitation and funeral dates were changed due to inclement weather.