Aurora "Yaya" Sapiano

Beloved wife of the late John. Loving mother of Carmen (Kevin) McNamara, Alexander (Gitta), Daniel (Donica) and Bertram (Ann-Marie). Dear grandmother of Trey, Eleisa, Stefan, Gina and Lila. Survived by her brother, David, and her sister, Teresa. YaYa, as Mama was affectionately called by family and friends, was the name given to her by her younger brother Henry who couldn’t quite say Aurora, was a very happy outgoing person. She loved to have fun and people were naturally attracted to her. She met her husband John at the home of mutual friends John and Mary Gafa. Friends would gather at the Gafa’s for Sunday dinner and Papa being single was always available for a home cooked traditional Maltese dinner. They started going to dances at the Maltese Club and well the rest is history. Mama always put her family first. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for her children, from special meals for our birthdays, making 2 sauces for Brajoli – one with peas, one without, going to Judo, piano and guitar lessons, taking us sledding and playing baseball at Halmich Park, to doing our homework. She was so good that she got Danny into an advanced art class. We all benefitted from Mama’s unique teaching method that involved pain! Mama was always quick to make friends. She had her circle from high school, the neighborhoods she lived in and work. She always had a smile on her face and would do anything for anyone who needed help. Even in her later years when she was going to an Adult Day Care her instinct to help would kick in and she would help out the other seniors there! Papa and Mama still loved to dance and for years they still went to dances at the Maltese Club. They were very good dancers and invariably others on the dance would form a circle around them to watch them dance. They loved a good party and everyone with them had a memorable time. As we got older, Mama and Papa were able to do more fun things together. They went to their time share in Daytona Beach, took trips up North, visited John and Mary in New York, and went to London, Rome and Malta. As Mom’s Alzheimer’s slowly took over, her personality never changed. She was never angry or frustrated, she just laughed because she couldn’t remember things. She loved to tell stories and with the Alzheimer’s her imagination would run wild. We would love to ask her questions just to see where her stories would go. Although Mama officially passed away from Alzheimer’s, she actually beat the disease, dealing with it for 20 years and living to 91 in the comfort of her own home. Alzheimer’s robbed this beautiful person of the last years of her life, her memories and the person she was. So remember the good times, the laughter, her beautiful smile, remember her at her best! In lieu of flowers the family requests donation be made to the Alzheimer's Association (https://www.alz.org/)

Aurora "Yaya" Sapiano

October 19, 1927 - January 19, 2019