John A. Macari

On Sunday, December 19, 2021, John A. Macari of Nutley, New Jersey, passed away at age 83.

John was preceded in death by his father, Dominic D. Macari and his mother, Mary Louise Macari. 

He was a cherished father to his children, Christine (Macari) Crockett, & her husband Thomas Crockett, and John Marc Macari, and his wife Janine Macari.   He was a dear grandfather to Thomas, Michael John, John Joseph & Jenna; and a beloved brother to Phyllis (Macari) Cardillo & her husband, Joseph Cardillo; and his loving nieces, nephews and many, many friends.

John was born in Queens, New York and raised in Union City, New Jersey by his Italian immigrant parents who came from the province of Settefrati.  John excelled in intelligence – even at 83 years old his memory and intelligence was like no other.  He was a master CPA/Tax Accountant – numbers just came easy to him.  He worked during the day to put himself through college at night at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, New Jersey & seamlessly had a job waiting for him at KPMG Peat Marwick (the “Big 8“back then), before graduating – and of course passed the CPA Exam on the first try.  He went on to become the Controller of many large companies and eventually went into the government sector of accounting.  He excelled as always and became the Borough Administrator of New Milford, New Jersey and then went on to become City Controller of Glen Cove, New York. He then was brought in to work for the Nassau County Executive on Long Island – and eventually retired from working for the Treasurer of Nassau County - - where you would often see him standing in the background whenever the Nassau County Executive spoke on TV. 

John was very proud of his Italian heritage and held the office of President at the Sons of Italy in Glen Cove, New York.  It was another achievement that he could put on his list.  He loved joining groups and being active in his community.  He always “got involved” as he would say.  He was a devout Catholic and always got involved in the church; whether helping with accounting projects behind the scenes or lecturing at mass.  He always said “you have to believe”.

John was also an avid sports fan.  He loved the New York Giants and the New York Yankees and could sports talk for hours with his family & friends about it.  He always told the story when his father took him to Yankee stadium as a young boy, where he caught the home run ball in the stands hit by Mickey Mantle, his all-time favorite Yankee. John also was a music lover and picked up the guitar at a young age.  He always played guitar at family functions and his sister Phyllis & brother-in-law Joe, were his faithful back up singers, always by his side singing along. He, then taught his son John Marc to play guitar so that his legacy lives on through him.

John enjoyed his retired life and loved to go out to eat with his family & friends. His favorite restaurant was The Parkside in Queens, New York which he frequented all the time, especially  on his birthday with his family.  Wherever John went, he was known at every restaurant. He was a social butterfly and could just walk into any restaurant, sit down, and strike up conversation.  He knew everyone wherever he went – he always made an impression with his outgoing personality, charm & sense of humor.  He had danced with his daughter, Christine, at her wedding to the song “Unforgettable” by Natalie Cole and this song sums up what John will always be to his family & close friends – “Unforgettable in every way”.  He will never be forgotten - and will be sorely missed by all his family & friends.  We will carry his words of wisdom with us always - and he is forever in our hearts.

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