Obituaries
Obituary: Mrs. Barbara (Verrastro) Russo, 89, of Watertown
She was an adored educator and kindergarten teacher at South/Griffin School for the Town of Watertown until her retirement.
BARBARA'S OBITUARY courtesy of Hickcox Funeral Home
WATERTOWN - Mrs. Barbara (Verrastro) Russo, 89, died Monday, January 4, 2021, peacefully at her home. She was the beloved widow of Joseph J. Russo Jr.
Mrs. Russo was born in Waterbury, August 30, 1931, daughter of the late Louis and Grace (Ciriello) Verrastro and sister of the late Thomas R. Verrastro. She was born and raised in Waterbury and was a graduate of Sacred Heart Elementary and High School and received her undergraduate degree from Willimantic State Teachers College (now ECSU). She was an adored educator and kindergarten teacher at South/Griffin School for the Town of Watertown until her retirement.
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Mrs. Russo was a communicant of St. John the Evangelist Church and decades long member of the Beta Sigma Phi service sorority. Barbara was an avid reader and movie enthusiast. She adored the ocean and was a masterful chef who believed in creating beautiful memories while spending time with her family and friends. Barbara was a devoted and loving wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend who will be greatly missed.
Mrs. Russo leaves a son, Cole Russo of Montclair, NJ; three daughters, Janice McSpiritt and her husband Charles of Mill River, MA, Caryl Cutts of New London, NH, and Alison Russo of New York, NY; and seven grandchildren, Katherine, Gillian, Zachary, Joseph, Matthew, Phillip, and Andrea.
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There will be no calling hours, per her request. As a teacher, she believed in science and love and requested we not do anything that would risk spreading the virus that has kept so many of us apart.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday morning, 10 a.m., January 9th at St. John the Evangelist Church, 574 Main Street. Friends and family are asked to meet directly at the church and to observe COVID protocols of masks and social distancing. Burial will follow in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Platt Road. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Hickcox Funeral Home, 195 Main St., Watertown.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.
