Angelina Iavarone, avid cook, homemaker, dies

From a business perspective, Angelina Iavarone's influence on her family's Italian specialty foods market was negligible. It was in the more traditional matters of family, from imparting maternal wisdom to preparing homemade meals, where she made her mark.

And Iavarone, who died Wednesday at 87, always managed to keep her three sons in order, too, said her youngest, Joseph Iavarone Jr., 49. The boys, who took over Iavarone Brothers Foods from their father, are not averse to a squabble now and then, he said.

"She did keep us in line," he said. "If something was going on between us, she might say, 'Listen to Pasquale. He's the oldest.' "

Where she really sparkled, however, was as cook and homemaker, said her son, of Oyster Bay Cove.

Her own mother died in the mid-1930s, when Angelina was about 13 years old, he said. "With four older brothers and a father, she was the mother of the house at a young age," he said. "She always cooked and cleaned, and later when she married my father she continued to do that."

She and her husband, Joseph Iavarone Sr., lived in Brooklyn after marrying in 1951, above the first Iavarone Brothers store at 165 Wilson Ave.

In 1977, the family moved to Garden City, and after her husband retired in 1979, they spent winters in Marco Island, Fla.

Her son said her cooking, which had to please the palates of her Sicilian father and Neapolitan husband, eventually made its way to the markets, now located in New Hyde Park, Wantagh, Woodbury and Maspeth.

And as with many stereotypical Italian mothers who cook, she hardly ever measured ingredients and her recipes rarely were written down.

"We'd ask, 'Ma, how come this tastes so good, what did you put in it?' " her son said, "and she'd say, 'It's got a lotta love in it, and that's why it's good.' "

Iavarone Brothers markets have a popular stuffed artichoke from his mother's recipes, along with many other dishes she perfected. "They are very, very good, but still not like she could make," he said.

Besides her son Joseph, survivors include her husband, Joseph Sr., 85; sons Pasquale Iavarone, 59, of Manhasset, and John Iavarone, 56, of Old Westbury; nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Visitation is Saturday and Sunday at Park Funeral Chapels, Garden City Park. A funeral Mass will be celebrated 10 a.m. Monday at St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church, Garden City, followed by burial at Cemetery of the Holy Rood, Old Westbury.