October 30, 2011

CLAYTON, N.Y.  —  Nora Amoroso LaChance, 53, Clayton, died Saturday at her home.

Calling hours will be held 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, at Cummings Funeral Service, Inc., Clayton. A prayer service will be 10:15 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, at the funeral home followed by the 11 a.m. funeral Mass celebrated at St. Mary's Church with Rev. Arthur LaBaff officiating. Burial will be in St. Vincent of Paul Cemetery, Cape Vincent.

Born Feb. 21, 1958, in Englewood, N.J., the daughter of Mary Hickey Amoroso and Louis J. Amoroso of Bergenfield, N.J., she graduated in1976 graduate from Bergenfield High School and received a master's degree in education from SUNY Potsdam, along with a secondary certification in special education. 

Nora married John LaChance on Dec. 1, 1988, in Bergenfield.

She was an administrative assistant at City Hall in Tucson, Ariz., and at the Cousteau Society in New York, NY. 

She was a teacher's assistant at Thousand Islands Middle School in Clayton, NY. She was a special education teacher at Jefferson-Lewis BOCES and Indian River Middle School in Philadelphia, NY.

Nora was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in May of 2006. She founded the River Rocks Cancer Support Group in 2008, and participated in the documentary, "The Whisper", which aimed to raise awareness of the often-missed symptoms of ovarian cancer. The documentary was broadcast on PBS stations around the nation this year.

She was a Eucharistic minister and member of St. Mary's R. C. Church in Clayton and a member of St. Vincent dePaul Church in Rosiere. She enjoyed making jewelry and greeting cards, cooking, and was an avid reader.

Nora's family first vacationed at Cedar Point State Park in the Thousand Islands region in 1969, and purchased a summer cottage in Rock Beach in Clayton in 1973. Nora first met her future husband when he took her on a boat ride in 1975. The couple built a year-round home in Rock Beach on the site of John's father's summer cottage in 2001. Her love of the St. Lawrence River sustained her in her five-year battle with cancer, and she was a lifelong advocate for protection of the environment.

Surviving are her husband; a son, Nicholas, a daughter, Kendall, Cape Vincent; a stepson, John LaChance Jr. and family of Lunenburg, Mass.; a stepdaughter, Julie LaChance Atkinson and husband Stephen of Kansas City, Mo.; a brother Louis Amoroso, Benson, Ariz.; three sisters and their husbands, Margaret and Rick Blackwell, Tracy's Landing, Md., Marian and Michael Benedetto, Tucson, Ariz., and Mary Amoroso and James McQueeny, Mahwah, N.J.; and a brother-in-law, Gregory Knight, Deale, Md. 

Her parents and by a brother, Thomas Amoroso, all died before her.

Donations in Nora's memory may be made to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, 14 Pennsylvania Plaza, Suite 1710, New York, NY 10122 and to the Bridge School for children with cerebral palsy and multiple handicaps, 545 Eucalyptus Avenue, Hillsborough, CA 94010.

Information provided by Cummings Funeral Service and Newzjunky.com, Watertown