Obituary of DeLoris Vernezze

DeLoris Vernezze, age 94, died on March 30th, 2024, in Tucson, Arizona at her daughter's home surrounded by family. She was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on July 13th, 1929 to Albert and Mary Tenuta (Valenti) and grew up with five siblings in a close-knit Italian-American enclave of the city.

In 1947, at the wedding of her sister, she met her husband, Francis Vernezze, who had just returned from service in WW II. They were married a year later at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church. They raised five children and remained married for 64 years until Francis’s death in 2012. 

In addition to being a devoted mother and loving wife, she wished to be remembered for taking care of people: nursing her in-laws as they grew ill, bringing her own mother into her house for her final years, making sure her neighbors received their medication, visiting sick and dying friends and relatives, and cooking, always cooking: for families, friends, relatives, anybody really.  Ultimately, she took her love for feeding people out of her own kitchen and into the community, managing the deli at Town and Country Liquors. After raising their children and spending their lives in Kenosha, her and her husband retired to Tucson, Arizona in 2000 and spent their remaining years living peacefully and in warm weather with their daughter, Mary.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her daughter Patricia, and her sisters Nancy, Violet, and Theresa. She is survived by four children: Michael (Julie), Peter (Yong), Richard (Jill), and Mary; her grandchild Katie Toske (JP) and three great grandchildren, Violet, Miles, and Jack; she is also survived by a sister Virgina and a brother Albert (Betty).

The family would like to express their sincere gratitude to Casa de la Luz it Tucson, especially to Maya and Angel, for the compassion and care given to their mother. In lieu of flowers a donation to Alzheimer Association is suggested.