1177 W. 5th Avenue
Columbus Ohio 43212
Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church
1559 Roxbury Road
Columbus
, Ohio 43212
Lita (Varrasso) Vannicelli, our beloved "Maw Maw," who lived her life as an angel here on Earth for her dear friends and family, has now passed on from the darkness of Alzheimer’s to the light of her heavenly home on the evening of March 9, 2019 at the age of 90. She was surrounded by her family and the comforting hand of her loving husband of 68 plus years, Tony Vannicelli. Lita was born on October 28, 1928 to Antonio and Ella Varrasso in Newark. She was a quiet, immensely strong woman with a motto that “it will always be better tomorrow.” Her Catholic faith guided her to volunteer at her parish church of St. Agnes, and she especially loved her volunteer work caring for newborn babies in the nursery at Mt. Carmel. Her love of babies and children lifted her even through Alzheimer’s: holding a baby or a child would always light up her face. Tony and Lita fell in love years ago at Buckeye Lake over french fries and big band music. Their young love blossomed into a beautiful life and family, with children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She always rightfully spoiled those children with sweets – during family gatherings at Halloween and Christmas, on a daily basis from the cookie jar, with sugary cereal after an overnight stay at Maw Maw & Paw Paw’s house, or by carefully cutting thin slices of chocolate from a Hershey’s Kiss for her precious little babies that didn’t yet have teeth. She loved her Bingo, and was able to play 18 cards at a time! Many fun family evenings were spent in her kitchen playing cards and Scrabble, warmed by her famous spaghetti sauce and star soup. She will be so deeply missed by her family; with her in our lives we have been blessed to learn from her values of true love, character, fortitude, kindness, humility and enduring strength. Preceded in death by her parents and sister, Eva Vanucci. She is survived by her loving husband, Tony Vannicelli; children, Jane (Thomas) Fox, Patti (Tom) Reid, Vince (Caterina) Vannicelli; grandchildren, Lori (John) Begley, Anthony (Lynn) Fox, Thomas (Rebecca) Fox, Anthony (Gracie) Reid, Elizabeth (Christopher) Fritz, Katie (Brandon) Cornish, Kristen Reid, Casey (Grant) Thomas, Joseph Vannicelli; great grandchildren, McKenzie and Caden Harris, John, Mia and Ben Begley, Lyla and Brody Fox, Tom, Alex and Eddie Fox, Michael and Charles Reid-Fritz. She was also a loving aunt to many nieces and nephews. Her family would like to give a special thank you to her loving caregivers at Sunrise of Dublin. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 1379 Dublin Rd, Columbus, OH 43215 or to the St. Anthony Shrine at stanthony.org. We love you Maw Maw! Her family will receive friends on Wednesday, March 13, 2019 from 5-8 p.m., at the JOHN QUINT TREBONI FUNERAL HOME, 1177 West Fifth Avenue, Columbus. Funeral Mass 10:00 a.m., Thursday, March 14, 2019 at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, 1559 Roxbury Road (Marble Cliff). Burial to follow, Dublin Cemetery. Condolences may be sent via www.johnquint.com.