Joan Wetzel

Joan Wetzel passed away peacefully at her Cutchogue home Sunday, Jan. 12, at the age of 89.
Born June 16, 1935, in Parkchester, the Bronx, she was the first child born of Robert and Evelyn (Borza) Vairo. She attended James Madison High School. Upon graduation, Joan worked as a bookkeeper at NCR and Johns Manville, both on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. Joan met Tom (John Thomas Wetzel) in Mastic Beach, N.Y., where both of their parents had summer homes. They married Oct. 26, 1957, in the Parkchester section of the Bronx, where they lived for two years with the Vairo family.
Joan and Tom then bought a Tudor home in West Hempstead, where they raised three children: Deborah, Lenore and Thomas. Joan was a stay-at-home mom until she took a job as a payroll clerk in 1971 at Molloy College. She worked at Molloy for 18 years, including one year as a secretary to college president Sister Janet. She took a one-year leave of absence in 1988 to care for her ailing mother. In 1974, Joan and Tom bought their house on Pequash Avenue in Cutchogue and, a few years later, turned the summer home into a year-round house. A few years after that, when Tom retired, they moved out to Cutchogue permanently.
During their time in Cutchogue, Joan volunteered at Parish Outreach in Southold for several years. She loved little children and horses. She took several courses in interior decorating, evidenced in the flair she displayed in their uniquely decorated home. She also assisted Tom during his 10-year presidency of the Fleet’s Neck Association. They both enjoyed spending time with family and friends and lazy days on their boat. Tom passed away in 2020.
Joan is survived by her three children and her younger sister, Barbara Dermody.
Visitation will take place Thursday, Jan. 16, from 4 to 7 p.m. at McLaughlin Heppner Funeral Home in Riverhead. A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 17, at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Mattituck.
Paid post