Michael J. Sarracco

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Michael (Mickey) J. Sarracco, 85, of Midland Beach, a retired food services employee, talented musician and linguist, died Sunday in Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze.

Born and raised on Manhattan's Lower East Side, he graduated from Seward Park High School there.

Mr. Sarracco served in the U.S. Navy as a member of the Construction Brigade, the Seabees.

He moved to New Dorp in 1954 and first worked for his father at "Italian Farmers," a family-owned Italian food specialty shop on New Dorp Lane. He also worked in the food service industry on the Island.

Mr. Sarracco relocated to Phoenix, Ariz., in the early 1980s, then to Sun City, Ariz., continuing to work in food service. He returned to the Island in 2015, moving to Island Shores senior residence in Midland Beach.

He was a Mason.

A talented musician, Mr. Sarracco was a skilled accordion player and loved music. In his younger years, he was a member of the wedding band, "The Skylighters."

He spoke four languages fluently -- French, Italian and Spanish in addition to his native English -- and had a passion for all things Latin, including music and dance. He also was fond of eating good food, dining out, and going to Broadway shows in Manhattan.

Mr. Sarracco loved watching hockey and was a loyal New York Rangers fan.

He was a parishioner of Our Lady Queen of Peace R.C. Church, New Dorp.

Surviving are his wife of 64 years, Josephine; his son, John; his daughter, Michele Sarracco, and a granddaughter.

The funeral will be Wednesday from the Virginia Funeral Chapel, Dongan Hills, with a Mass at 10:30 a.m. in Our Lady Queen of Peace Church. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, also New Dorp.

Afterglow... I'd like the memory of me to be a happy one, I'd like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done. I'd like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways, of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days.

I'd like the tears of those who grieve, to dry before the sun. Of happy memories that I leave behind when my life is done.

Arrangements under the direction of Virginia Funeral Chapel, Staten Island, NY.