Rosaria Cione

October 6, 1926 – March 4, 2025

Sara Cione, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother, aunt, friend, parishioner, and devoted servant of God, went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, March 4, in Apex, North Carolina, at the age of 98.

Sara was born Rosaria Maria Troia on October 6, 1926, in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Her parents, Girolamo and Filippa Troia, immigrated from Torretta, a small town just west of Palermo, Sicily. Sara was the second of eight children and was baptized at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in Little Italy. For her confirmation she chose the name Evelyn, a name she quietly cherished. She grew up in a home filled with love, tradition, and a deep connection to faith and family. Sara embraced her Italian heritage and spoke both Italian and Sicilian fluently.

Sara’s artistic talents were evident from an early age. As a child, she studied classical dance, drama, and voice. At the age of 11, she performed in radio productions of La Cavalleria Rusticana and Carmen. She attended Washington Irving High School, an all-girls school in New York City, and graduated with the class of 1944. There, she formed a lifelong friendship with her best friend, Josephine, with whom she shared countless memories commuting to school together, scouring Orchard Street for the best shoe deals (even if it meant a mismatched size), and later working side by side at Guaranty Trust Bank.

Her passion for the arts and singing and dancing on stage led her to the Italian American Theater Group in Greenwich Village, where she found not only a creative outlet but also the love of her life, Giuseppe (Joseph) Cione. Joseph later reflected on their first meeting, describing Sara as having a joyful disposition, a warm and friendly smile, a confident voice, and an undeniable sparkle for life that captivated him immediately. She exuded optimism, always finding the bright side in any situation. They married on November 11, 1950, at the Church of the Nativity, beginning a 70-year partnership filled with love, faith, and family.

Before they were even engaged, one of Joseph’s priest mentors predicted the couple would have six children. Over the next 17 years, that promise was fulfilled. Rosanna, Delia, Thomas, Marisa, Laura, and Joseph filled their homes in Brooklyn and Baldwin with life and laughter. Raising six children required extraordinary patience, devotion, and love, and Sara provided all three in abundance. Their home was a symphony of movement and noise, with Sara as its steady heartbeat. She ensured meals were always homemade, clothes were always neatly pressed, and every scraped knee or wounded heart received a mother’s gentle touch.

While her love was unconditional, she also set high expectations. She instilled in her children a sense of discipline, faith, and responsibility, not through stern words, but through her own example. She expected the children to help with chores, to look after one another, and, most importantly, to be kind. When the household finally quieted in the evenings, she would sit with her children, rosary beads in hand, her faithful bedtime prayers as much a part of their upbringing as the family meals.

Sara was a supportive, kind role model that emphasized compassion, peacemaking, and generosity. Through all of life’s joys and challenges, Sara remained a steady, reassuring presence. Even as her children grew into adulthood and began families of their own, she remained the unwavering force that held them together, a mother in the deepest and truest sense of the word.

While Sara prioritized family life, she also took on professional and civic roles over the years. From age 18 to 25 she worked at Guaranty Trust Bank in Manhattan before stepping away to focus on her children. Later, she worked as a salesperson at the department store Pappagallo, where she shared her love of fashion and warmth with customers. A woman of deep faith, she was an active member of her parish, St Andrews in Apex, NC, serving as a Eucharistic minister, catechist, and a dedicated volunteer at the Western Wake Crisis Ministry Food Pantry. She and Joseph also hosted an opera club in their home, where fellow Italian parishioners gathered to share their love of music.

Of all the ways Sara expressed love, food was one of the most joyful for her and her family. In her home, eating was an act of care, a tradition, and, at times, a non-negotiable requirement. No visitor ever left hungry; Sara simply wouldn’t allow it. If visitors had already eaten before arriving, they could try to negotiate with Sara, but they were usually outmatched by her persistence and would succumb to at least a taste of whatever was on the menu. Her kitchen was always filled with the comforting aroma of something simmering, baking, or roasting. While many in the family have tried to replicate her legendary biscotti, none have quite matched her magic touch. The same was true for her chicken cutlets and her lasagna, made not with a strict recipe but with instinct, love, and a lifetime of practice. Meals in her home were about gathering, laughing, and being together, a reflection of the warmth she infused into every aspect of life. And if you left so much as a crumb on your plate, you were playfully chastised, “who are you gonna scare with that?”

Sara had a playfulness that kept her family laughing and their minds sharp. A lover of word games, she indulged in Scrabble, Boggle, and Balderdash, never missing an opportunity to mix up words in ways that left everyone in stitches. She had a gift for rearranging letters and words into entirely new meanings, often bending the definitions just enough to make everyone laugh until their sides hurt. Whether she was making up the rules, insisting “cabinet fever” was real, or combining phrases in a way that left the family in hysterics, she turned the simplest game night into an unforgettable comedy show. Her love and laughter brought joy into every room she entered, leaving behind cherished memories.

Sara’s unmistakable influence stretches through and beyond her own children, shaping the lives of her 16 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren, 3 great-great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews and a large extended family. Sara was the matriarch and the heart of the family. Through her love, she taught generations how to love in return, how to prioritize what truly matters, and how to carry forward the warmth and connection she so strongly valued. She filled childhoods with song, play, and tradition, singing Ka-ka-ka-Katie in her unmistakable voice, telling stories about Harry James, and playing “round bally” with the youngest, delighting in their laughter. Every night, she led the family in prayer, carefully listing blessings for family and friends one by one before always finishing with, “God bless the whooooole world,” ensuring no one was left out of her boundless love. She was the keeper of family identity, the thread that connected past to present, and the model of a life well lived; one rooted in faith, joy, and an unshakable devotion to the people she loved.

As her family carries forward her traditions, her spirit and her example remain, woven into every song sung, every game played, every heart touched, every generosity extended, and every prayer whispered. While future generations may not feel her physical presence, they are shaped by the legacy she leaves.

Sara was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph; her son, Thomas; her parents; and her seven siblings. She is survived by her children, Rosanna Granado, Delia Donofrio, Marisa Velez-Spina, Laura Cione, and Joseph Cione, along with her cherished daughters and sons in law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.

A funeral mass will be held on Friday, March 14, 2025, at Saint Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church in Apex, NC, with visitation beginning at 11:00 a.m., followed by the service at 12:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to St. Andrew’s Brown Bag ministry, serving the poor with food and fellowship (https://www.saintandrew.org/serve/social_action/brown_bag).

Sara’s siblings: Maria Concetta (Concetta), Salvatore (Sammy), Vincenza (Jenny), Steven (Stevie), Rosemary (Rosemary), Joseph (Joe), Richard (Richie)

Sara’s children: Rosanna (Robert), Delia (John), Marisa (Joe), Thomas (Lynn), Laura, Joseph (Pam)

Sara’s grandchildren: Michael, Jackie, David, Rachel, Robb, Sarah, Tom, Cristina, John Mark, Laura, Jesse, Elizabeth, Rebekah, Daniel, Jaxon, Cirin

Sara’s great-grandchildren: Juliana, Anthony, Elena, Liliana, Edwin, Jackson, Aleena, Sebastian, Gianna D, Logan, Matthew, Jason, Cristina, Danica, Antonio, Jack, Finley, Lua, Ethan, Nathaniel, Leo, Julieta, Rio, Valentina, Simon, Lila, Gianna

Sara’s great-great-grandchildren: Rhett, Mila, (and one on the way)