Jacqueline Caron Russo Of Hampton Bays Dies January 26

Jacqueline Caron Russo of Hampton Bays died on January 26 at the East End Hospice Kanas Center for Hospice Care on Quiogue after a long illness. She was 83.

Born January 31, 1938, in New York City to Leo and Linda (Resignolo) Caron, she grew up in the Bronx as an only child, but surrounded by an extended family of cousins, aunts, and uncles. She attended Bronx High School of Science and received an RN degree from New York Medical College/Flower Fifth Avenue Hospital. She retired after a career as a geriatric nurse supervisor at institutions including Parker Jewish Institute in New Hyde Park.

Known by her many friends and family as Jacquie, Russo was a passionate advocate for social justice and the common good. In 1970, she co-founded Housewives Concerned, a consumer awareness and advocacy organization that fought for pesticide regulation and transparency in food labeling and production. The group had an informational table at the first Earth Day in New York City.

With her husband, Mario, she raised three children in Flushing, Queens, where she was a longtime member of the board of the First Unitarian Nursery School, which her children attended.

In 1991, she and her husband moved to Hampton Bays. She became a member of the committee for the Common Good and an active member of the Southampton Democratic Club. She was an enthusiastic board member of the Hampton Bays Civic Association, where she came up with the idea for the first Duckie Race, now an annual family fun day fundraising event.

Russo was also a passionate home cook and generous hostess, according to her family, regularly preparing remarkable Italian food for her beloved extended family as well as her many friends, some of whom she had stayed in close touch with since childhood.

She is survived by her husband of 62 years; as well as three children, John, Maria, and Mel; two sons-in-law, Matthew DeBord and Christopher Freeman; and seven grandchildren, Michael, Alicia, Hallie, and Lucas Russo, and Lucia, Mario, and Dante DeBord.

A memorial mass and celebration of her life will be held in the spring.