Yvette Grasso Obituary

Yvette Grasso attended Memorial High School in West New York, NJ. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about Yvette Grasso.

Graduation Year	Class of 1991
Date of Passing	Dec 21, 2008
About	Remembering Yvette Grasso Last month the West New York School District suffered a great loss, as long time educator and Memorial High School Assistant Principal Yvette Grasso passed away. Among her friends, colleagues and school community Mrs. Grasso is remembered as a warm hearted individual. She was a mother figure to her students, and always encouraged them to strive for excellence. “She was a caring person,” said Rosemary Costal, Grasso’s assistant. “She cared about her students very much and always thought about other people before herself.” Rosemary Costal worked with Mrs. Grasso for about three years. “She was a wonderful person to work with and she was a good colleague and a good friend,” said Costal. In addition, Rosemary’s husband Jose Costal, a disciplinarian at the high school, has worked with Mrs. Grasso for many years. “One of the major things we will always remember about Yvette is she was such a good hearted person,” said Jose Costal. “She was constantly worrying about the kids, which was one of the main thing I always enjoyed about her, and the fact that we worked as a team.” “Yvette was always concerned about the kids we dealt with on a day to day basis,” he added. “Before we punished we always tried to help them do the right thing.” An alumni of the West New York School District, Yvette Grasso had early graduation from Memorial High School and immediately went on to attain her bachelor’s degree from St. Thomas Aquinas College in New York. She later continued her graduate studies at Jersey State College. In 1981 at the age of 20, Mrs. Grasso returned to teach in the West New York School District. “I started in the district in 1991 and we both worked in the same ESL department,” said Principal Robert Sanchez. “She was a person who took her job seriously, very compassionate to the students’ needs, and she was somebody that was well liked by all.” Grasso was the head teacher of the ESL department at Memorial High School at the time when Mr. Sanchez was starting his teaching career. “She was there to provide guidance whenever needed, and of course being a new teacher I always found it helpful to have someone to go to and ask questions,” said Sanchez. Mr. Sanchez worked with Mrs. Grasso at the high school until 2001 when he became an assistant principal at one of the elementary schools. Then in the summer of 2007 Mr. Sanchez returned to Memorial High School as the new principal, and once again working with Mrs. Grasso who now served as the assistant principal. “She was somebody who wanted to do her job to the fullest of her ability,” said Sanchez. “I considered her as being a great asset to us, but also considered her a good friend.” “She was the funniest person you could know,” said Alina Mendoza, longtime friend and colleague. “She made everybody laugh.” Ms. Mendoza had been working with Mrs. Grasso since she came to work at Memorial High School in 1994. Ms. Mendoza remembers Grasso’s cheerful personality. “She was so motherly and heartwarming with the kids,” said Mendoza. “She was always there to help them her students. They knew they could always go see her no matter what time of the day it was.” Yvette Grasso passed away shortly before the winter holidays from health complications. Grasso’s sister is a teacher at the high school as well. Nancy Gorman. The wake at Vainieri Funeral Home was held on Dec. 23, and the funeral at St. Joseph of the Palisades Church was held Christmas Eve Dec. 24. She is survived by two daughters, a step son, her husband and her sister Nancy Gorman, also a teacher at the high school. “She definitely had a good showing and that shows the amount of love and respect everybody had for her,” said Sanchez. “She was always concerned about her family, and always put them first before her,” said Jose Costal. “My wife and I still think she is going to walk in. Everybody is very sad about her loss and we are going to miss her tremendously. We lost a great human being.”

Classmate Memories

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Frances Grasso '72 said:

That was my Beautiful Beloved Sister in law, no she was more then that, she was my Sister.
Missed everyday, no one better then her & now my brother has joined her... They are ❤

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