A funeral mass was offered May 27 at Our Lady of Grace Church, Fairview, for Marie Gay Borace, 70. She passed away May 23 surrounded by her husband Stephen Borace and children at St. Joseph’s Hospice Center in Wayne after a long battle with cancer.
Marie was a lifelong resident of North Bergen. She was born at Christ Hospital in Jersey City. She attended Sacred Heart Elementary School in North Bergen and graduated in 1957. She was a 1961 graduate of Weehawken High School and a graduate of Claremont Business School. During her life, Marie held administrative assistant positions at Konika in New York City and Compuscan in Hackensack. Her passion for politics led her to jobs at the Hudson County Board of Elections and North Bergen Department of Public Works. Marie was appointed Superintendent and Commissioner of Elections Hudson County in 1998 and served that position and the people of her home Hudson County until her death.
It was while working in New York City early on in her career that she met her soul mate and love of her life, Steve. They met at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in 1964 while Steve, a young sailor with the United States Navy was on shore patrol. They fell in love and were married on Feb. 21, 1965 at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church before Steve shipped out to the Mediterranean. They were blessed with their first child, Marianne on Sept. 14, 1966 and their son, Stephen came along on March 4, 1978. Marie is survived by countless loved ones, friends and colleagues including her husband, Stephen Borace, and her children Marianne Borace Ecanosti, Stephen Borace Jr. and his wife Alexis Melchionne-Borace. Most dear to her were her three grandchildren Alyssa and Anthony Ecanosti and Stephen Thomas Borace III.
She was predeceased by her parents Marie and Thomas Occhiogrosso and her father Pfc. Samuel Gagliardi of Hoboken who was killed in action in WWII in the Philipines in 1945 when Marie was only 22 months old. She is also survived by her brother John Occhiogrosso and his wife Karen of Fairview and her “baby” brother Peter Occhiogrosso and his wife Cathy of North Bergen. She is survived by many nieces, nephews and cousins whom she loved with all her heart. Services arranged by the Vainieri Funeral Home, North Bergen.