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Ercolano worked as a school aide in the Smithtown Central School District for more than 35 years, including at Great Hollow Middle School and Smithtown High Schools East and West.
She was Brooklyn to Philomena (Ferrara) and Rocco Recce, Ercolano and educated at St. Thomas Aquinas School and the Brooklyn Manual Training High School.
In 1944, Ercolano enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve (Women’s Reserve), known as the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). She served for two years, was stationed in Washington, D.C., and Virginia, and rose to the rank of Seaman First Class.
Ercolano married Domenick Ercolano, on Sept. 5, 1949. They lived in Brooklyn and Queens before settling in Nesconset in 1968, where they spent the next 50 years.
They had three daughters: Donna (Sr. Maria of the Holy Face of Jesus & the Immaculate Heart of Mary, OCD; Debra (William T. Brennan); and Doreen (Stephen H. Truesdell).
After retiring she went to the Smithtown Senior Center and volunteered for Catholic Charities Meals-on-Wheels program.
She was a member and past president of the Suffolk Seagulls, an organization of WAVES dedicated to preserving the history of women serving in the military.
Ercolano was also a member of WAVES National and the American Legion Sherwood Bros. Post 1152.
She is survived by her husband and daughters; seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; sisters, Theresa King of Brooklyn and Anna Boyce of Mission Viejo, California. She was predeceased by brothers, Vincent “Jimmy” Recce and Frank Recce.
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