Violet Verrillo
September 14, 1930 ~ December 28, 2014
Violet Verrillo (Silverstein) passed away on December 28, 2014 at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine due to complications of pneumonia. Violet had been a resident of Coastal Manor Nursing Home in Yarmouth, Maine. She was 84 years old. Violet is predeceased by her husband, Ronald Thomas Verrillo, retired professor at Syracuse University and former director of the Institute of Sensory Research in Syracuse, New York. Violet studied classical piano at Crouse College in Syracuse, New York, where she met her future husband, Ronald, in 1949. They married in 1950 and had four children: Nicole (died in infancy), Erica, Dan, and Thomas. Violet went on to get her Bachelor of Music in 1959 and a Masters Degree in Musicology in 1965 from Syracuse University. She established herself as a music teacher in the Syracuse area before going on to receive her Ph.D. in Child and Family Studies from Syracuse University in 1983. Her dissertation on the perception of time was entitled, The Experience of Time Duration, A Lifespan Approach. She was a guest researcher in the Department of Speech, Music, and Hearing at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden in 1977, and published a paper, On the Anatomy of the Retard: A Study of Timing in Music, with Johan Sundberg. Violet had a deep love of travel and a keen interest in art and culture. She visited Peru, and, accompanied by her husband, traveled throughout Europe, Mexico, England, and Japan, where she immersed herself in theater and the arts. She and her husband were avid art collectors, and together they owned and operated an art gallery, Berkeley Square, in Syracuse, New York. Violet was a lively conversationalist and cultivated a circle of friends, with whom she maintained close and affectionate ties. Her humor, wit, and warmth will be sorely missed. Violet is survived by her sister, Augusta Auerbach of Floral Park, Long Island, New York, and by her three children: Erica Verrillo, Whately, Massachusetts; Dan Verrillo, Spruce Head, Maine; and Thomas Verrillo, Herndon, Virginia, and her five grandchildren. Donations may be made in her memory to the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. Arrangements are under the direction of the Conroy-Tully Crawford Funeral Home, 172 State Street, Portland.
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Vi and Ron were good friends of my late husband, Sam*, and me. We met in each others’ homes for dining and lively conversation. Later, we often bumped into each other at Wegman’s supermarket, where we caught up with the latest family news.*Sam died 9/3/14 at 95. after a vigorous life devoted to peace and civil rights.
– Jane Feld