Grace M. Polizzotti

DEDHAM – It is with profound sadness that the Polizzotti family announces the death of Grace Mary (Sacchetti) Polizzotti, who passed away peacefully on October 25, 2024, at the age of 95. A beloved and gifted elementary school teacher, Grace leaves behind a legacy of service and dedication to improving the lives of many generations of students, some of whom remained in touch with her for many years afterward. 

Grace was born Graziella Sacchetti in Montefalcone(Valfortore), Italy, on September 8, 1929, where she lived until the age of six. Her father, Fiore Sacchetti, whoeventually held a management position in the garment industry, had come to the United States as a teenager. Returning to Montefalcone as a young man, he married Grace’s mother, Albina Zeppa, before going back to the States to establish his livelihood. Grace spent her young childhood in Montefalcone, then moved with her mother to New York when she was six years old, meeting her father for the first time. She often recalled those early years in Italy as a privileged time in her life. Nonetheless, she adapted quickly to life in the United States, growing up in The Bronx section of New York City, where her brother, Leonard, later a commodities broker on Wall Street, was born in 1938. 

Grace earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Education at New York University, and soon after graduation was hired to teach in the Valley Stream (Long Island) school system. It was while teaching in Valley Stream that she met Mario Polizzotti, then in the Merchant Marine and later an award-winning architect. Mario made an appointment to see Grace about his niece, who was in Grace’s class, and ended up asking her on a date. The two were married on June 30, 1956, and were together for nearly 65 years, until Mario’s death from COVID-19 in 2021, at the age of 91.

The couple had three children: Mark Polizzotti, author, translator, and head of publications at the Metropolitan Museum in New York; Gloria Polizzotti Greis, archeologist and Executive Director of the Needham (Mass.) History Center and Museum; and Lynn Polizzotti Clark, Director of Human Resources at Brockton (Mass.) Neighborhood Health Center.

In her teaching, Grace incorporated abundant student participation long before this became a mainstream educational approach. Her motto was, “You tell, I forget. You show, I understand. You have me do, I remember.” A warm and encouraging presence in the classroom, she prided herself on remembering every child’s name after the first day, year after year. Her career spanned 30 years, much of it spent teaching in Stamford, Conn. Her relationships with her students often extended to friendships with the parents as well; one child in particularremained in contact with Grace from the age of 8 through her current grandmotherhood. 

Perhaps Grace’s greatest example was the one she set for her children and family, one of strong moral convictionsand faith, inspiration, commitment, and love: love for her children and grandchildren, of whom she remained fiercely proud; and love for Mario, with whom she shared a deep and lasting partnership.

Grace is survived by her three children; her five grandchildren; and her two great-grandchildren. She will be greatly missed by all of them. A service will be celebrated at Christ Church, 12 Quincy Avenue, Quincy, MA, on Friday, November 1, at 10 a.m., followed by a private burial.

Donations in Grace’s honor can be made to Cradles to Crayons, which helps provide school supplies to underprivileged students: https://www.cradlestocrayons.org/donate-now/.