Agnes Johanna Verso

Agnes J. Verso passed away peacefully on July 16, 2026. Born on June 10, 1928 to Frank A. and Anna (Condemi) Pulitano in Rochester, NY, Agnes grew to be a studious and quiet girl, who aided her parents by translating English into Calabrese and found comfort in getting lost in books and movies. She was deeply impacted by injustice and unfairness, writing an award winning essay at 11 years old about Marian Anderson’s treatment by the DAR. She was a brilliant student, graduating from Jefferson High School in 1946, where she formed lifelong friendships and was known for her beauty and brains. Shortly after graduation, she met Andrew J. Verso at a wedding and after a whirlwind courtship, married on September 6, 1948.

Together, they had three daughters, Andrea, Donna, and Valerie, who were the loves of her life. In 1959, the family left the snowy winters of Rochester and moved to Plantation, FL. It was in this growing Florida town where Agnes continued to cultivate her joy of bringing community together through delicious food, warm hospitality, and endless peals of laughter. The Verso home on SW 62nd Terrace was a place of love and joy, with an endless parade of family and friends happily passing through its doors. After selflessly caring for her parents, she and Andy retired to the mountains of Hendersonville, NC in 1993.

Agnes loved beauty in all of its forms from treasures found at estate sales to sunsets over Mount Pisgah, “that were different every night.” She found joy in the mundane, from finding a close parking space, gleefully squealing dah-dah when she did, to winning at cards (did she ever tell you about the time she and Uncle Tony were losing at hand and foot and came back to win it all?). An accomplished artist, she was an astute observer who worked in stained glass, oils, pencils, and jewelry, a talent she shares with her youngest great-grandchild and namesake. She would make every holiday special by continuing to share the recipes and traditions of her parents, ensuring that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were grounded in their Italian heritage. Agnes and Andy spent the next fourteen years living happily in Hendersonville, surrounded by family and friends, until Andy’s passing in 2007.

In 2014, Agnes moved in with her daughter, Donna and her husband, Louis, in Cleveland, OH. It was here that she rekindled her love of drawing after going to art classes at the Cleveland Heights Rec Center. She spent many happy years traveling between Cleveland and Mansfield, GA, where she split her time with her daughter Andrea and her husband, Buz. Being surrounded by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren made these among the happiest years of her life. In 2020, Agnes happily moved with Donna and Lou to Palm Coast, FL where she spent her remaining years drawing, reading, listening to music, and catching up with friends and family through phone calls, emails, and texts.

Agnes was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Andy and her sister, Rose Caruana-Stravato, in 2013. She leaves behind a loving and grieving family: her daughters Andrea (Buz) Jones, Donna (Louis) Rinaldi, and Valerie Ranne and her life partner, Bill Cooey; her adored grandchildren Anna Catherine (Mike) Discenzo, Brian (Heather) Braswell, Christina (Michael) LaMarca, and Christopher (Shannon) Braswell; her precious great-grandchildren, Bryson, Clara, Antoinette, Jacob, Drew, Francesca, Cecilia, and Sophia; as well as many dear friends from every era of her life. To those who knew her, Agnes will be remembered for her love of beauty, of books, of cats, of good food, of games and puzzles, especially Upwords, and of the Obamas.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Agnes’s honor to the National Alzheimer's Association, donorservices.alz.org an organization that means so much to our family. You can honor her each day by doing something kind for someone, by making something beautiful or delicious, by finding time to read or listen to music, or by adopting a cat that needs a loving home. Ti voglio bene sempre.