Adele Azar-Rucquoi, 90, passed away peacefully on Monday, November 13, 2023 at her home in Sanford, FL.
A great lover of life, Adele was known for her endless generosity of both spirit and resources, for her wonderment at all the gifts of the universe, and for her fearless determination to manifest peace, love and justice in the world. With genuinely disarming honesty she engendered trust and love in everyone whom she attracted into her chosen family and her great circle of friends who will miss her dearly.
Born in 1933 in Paterson, NJ, Adele was the eldest child of Charles Azar and Adele Kashey Azar. After moving to Orlando at an early age, the family ran a small Middle Eastern grocery store for many fondly remembered years.
Adele obtained her BA in music from Manhattanville College in New York and her MA in religious education from Barry University in Miami. For 16 years she was a teaching nun in the community of the Sisters of Saint Joseph and taught at Bishop Moore High School in Orlando, Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, and St. Juliana in West Palm Beach. In the 1970’s and 1980’s she served as the director of music at several Florida Catholic parishes, including St. Ignatius Loyola in Palm Beach Gardens and St. Maurice in Hollywood.
She was a founding member of the Foundation for Mid-East Communication and led community workshops on prejudice reduction for the National Coalition Building Institute. Later in life, Adele was involved with the Central Florida Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society, where she met her husband, James Rucquoi. She was also an active member of Pax Christi Florida, a regional chapter of the National Catholic Peace Movement. Adele authored two books: Money as Sacrament, an exploration of the complex issues for women and money, and The Nun and the Bum, a fictional memoir based on her and her husband’s life experiences.
She wrote a regular column for the Orlando Sentinel and her articles appeared in several magazines. Adele and her husband were members of the Mount Dora Writers Guild and taught courses together on creativity at Rollins College in Winter Park. Adele is survived by husband James Rucquoi, daughter Kate Copeland of Delaware, step sons Marc and David Rucquoi of South Carolina, and nieces Kari, Laura, Krista, Kyndra, Katrina, and their families. She is now peacefully at rest with her brothers Leroy and Roland Azar and sister Ginger Azar Jones.
A celebration of Adele’s life will be held on Friday December 15, at 1:00 p.m. in the Heritage Room at Vitality Living Lake Forest, 5433 West State Road 46, Sanford FL 32771. Reception immediately following.