Vincentina Zarumba passed away on December 5, 2025, in hospice care at the Aviva Skilled Care Facility in Sarasota, FL. She was born in Chicago, IL, on November 12, 1933, to Rafaele and Lucia Villonio, the youngest of three children and the only child of Rafaele and Lucia to survive into adulthood. She attended Roosevelt University in Chicago, studying Chemistry, when she met her future husband, Norbert Zarumba. They had three children, Rose Mary La Chappelle, Ralph (Ellen Chiocca), and Elizabeth (Betty) Schwartzinger (Joseph). Vincentina is the grandmother of Michael Stack and Isabella Chiocca and the step-grandmother of Jessie Bustamante (Jared) and Sarah Fox , and the step-great-grandmother of DeWitt Noel.
Vincentina's later received her BA in Education from Northeastern Illinois University and had a career as an elementary school teacher spanning over 30 years, first at Transfiguration Parish School in Wauconda, IL, and later at the Fremont School District in Mundelein, IL, where she also served as an assistant principal. During her career, she touched on the lives of countless young people.
Funeral services will be private. Vincentina's family would appreciate donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
