Genevieve Iacovazzi

Genevieve “Jenny” Iacovazzi died at the age of 80 in August 2023. Jenny’s life gifts include a long legacy of kindness, compassion, conscientiousness, and generosity toward others. Her energy and strength to offer these gifts of the heart rested on a foundation of humility, courage, resilience, perseverance, studiousness, intelligence, continuous self-discovery, and a strong faith in God.

Jenny was born and grew up on a small family farm in rural upstate New York near the beautiful Finger Lakes wine country and with the love of industrious and family-oriented Italian immigrant parents and three older sisters. She married and moved away from her family to Missouri, Texas, Maryland, and Florida, settling in the latter for over 50 years. Jenny dedicated the first third of her adult life as a conscientious and compassionate homemaker, supporting and caring for her husband and nurturing their only child.

After being divorced in middle age and to live self-sufficiently, Jenny worked as a full-time bookkeeper by day, and attended part-time college at night to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Central Florida. This resilience and perseverance helped her secure long-term employment at Tri-County Transit in Orlando (now Lynx), first as an accountant, and then as a human resource professional. This change in profession led her to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Florida Southern College. Jenny was the first in her immediate family to attend college to earn a Bachelor’s degree.

During her working years and especially after retirement, Jenny enjoyed her loving family and friends, her purrific cats, traveling, Bible study, quilting and sewing, water aerobics, line dancing, volunteering at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, and walking. Jenny also volksmarched 10-kilometer walks with the American Volkssport Association with her daughter and daughter-in-law and walked in local walk organizations with good friends (aka her “Sole Sisters).” Her travels led her to visit and hike many places in the U.S., including national parks and monuments, Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest, Arizona, Alaska, and California. She also traveled on cruises and internationally to Canada, Germany, Ireland, England, and Turkey. Jenny’s travels always included friends and/or family, including hiking excursions with her daughter and daughter-in-law (aka “The Traveling Trio”). Jenny has walked as many as 23K in one day and hiked as many as 90 miles in a 15 full-day hiking excursion in 3 U.S. national parks and 1 Canadian national park. Jenny won multiple medals in walking, often winning first or second place in her age group. Due to her boundless energy and inspiration to others to exercise, Jenny was referred by some as an “Energizer Bunny”.

Although fiercely independent, Jenny was considerate of the needs of her community, volunteering many hours of her time. As a leader within the Council of Catholic Women, she organized an effort to collect recyclable bottle caps to buy wheelchairs for people who could not afford them, and raised money for kids in domestic violence shelters who needed backpacks for their first day at school. She performed with line dance troupes to encourage older people to exercise in a fun way. She co-founded, and was an active member for two decades, of a local inter-faith Community Bible Study. She was also an officer of the Patriotic Order of the Does. Jenny was always reaching out to people.

What was most phenomenal about Jenny though was her presence. The kindness and sparkle in her eyes and her warm smile when meeting her created a safe and homey space for your heart to open up to her. She engaged you with thoughtful questions, and she listened with care for your answers. She avoided complaining, gossip, judgement, and excessive self-talk, which quickly melted any intimidation in trusting her. Although she was quite private, she would share her thoughts with you if they could be helpful. When she gave advice to you, she would be honest with you. Her truthfulness lacked any shred of condescendence or arrogance. If you needed something, she would find a way to help you. If she made mistakes, she freely admitted them and apologized to you without hesitation or resistance. She usually wore clothing and accessories with hearts, but the actual loving that shone through her was bright and unwavering during her well-lived life.

As the matriarch of a very large family, Jenny will be deeply missed by her daughter, Siena Iacovazzi, and her wife, Jeannie, as well as countless friends and family members including her cousins, sisters- and brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews, grand nephews and nieces, and great-grand nieces and nephews, all who were a large part of her life. She is predeceased by her beloved parents, Dominic and Mary Esposito, and sisters Mary “Dolly” Bartlett, Mildred D’Apice, and Lillian Roselli; as well as her cats Rama, Max, Leo, and Jojo.

A private celebration of Jenny’s life was held in Greenbelt, MD. Jenny’s cremated remains will be buried beside her parents and infant sister in St. Ann’s Cemetery in Hornell, NY. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jenny Iacovazzi’s name to the charities below:

• Alzheimer’s Association - Alzheimer's Association Tribute Gift

• Community Bible Study – Orlando – FL - Community Bible Study Orlando - FL

• Family Service Society, Inc. (Steuben County and surrounding areas) - Family Service Society Memoriam

• National Parks Conservation Association - National Parks Conservation Association Memorial & Tribute Giving

• Sierra Club - Sierra Club Memorial Donation

• University of Central Florida - UCF Florida Bright Futures Scholarship

To share a favorite memory or leave the family a message of condolence, please visit Jenny’s tribute page at Gary L. Kaufman Funeral Home at Meadowridge Memorial Park: