News

By Sallie James

BOCA RATON—Philanthropist, mentor, organizer, socialite, businesswoman, world traveler, beloved wife and mother. They all accurately describe the late Yvonne S. Boice-Zucaro, but her widowed husband, Al Zucaro, may have summed up her legacy best:
“She was a force of nature,” said Mr. Zucaro, who married her in 2009, a second marriage for both and a union he described as “the best years of my life.” Mrs. Boice-Zucaro died on Jan. 13 at home of natural causes. She was 85.
“When she got interested in something she was willing to commit her time, her energy and her money to the course,” Mr. Zucaro said. “She was one of the best organizers that I ever met. She was incredible in terms of her commitment to many different platforms and her follow-through with all of these. I still keep uncovering things that she was involved with and doing that even surprised me.”
Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on Sept. 6, 1937, Mrs. Boice-Zucaro graduated from New York University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. Education was one of her passions and over the years she received three honorary doctorate degrees, from three schools: Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire; Daemen College in Buffalo, New York; and Lynn University in Boca Raton. Her South Florida adventure began in 1983 when she moved to Boca Raton as the wife of real estate executive Grant Boice, who died a short time later. His unexpected death catapulted her into the business world. She rose to the occasion, successfully taking over management of the newly developed Shoppes at Village Pointe while also running her own pet project, Fugazy International Travel.
She met her future husband, Al Zucaro, on the Palm Beach County Film and Television Commission, where the two served as board members. They became friends, sharing common interests, passions and politics. After Mr. Zucaro’s wife died in 2008, the two became closer and eventually married a year later.
Mrs. Boice-Zucaro was always busy.
She was a world traveler who had visited more than 150 countries at the time of her death, believing that “the only way to true education was through travel.”
Mentoring women was also a huge passion throughout her life, and she was boldly outspoken about why it mattered. Mr. Zucaro recalled a time when his wife traveled to the Middle East with the State Department to speak at a conference about film, where she expressed concern about how women there were always portrayed as victims. A male attendee spoke out, saying, “That’s the way it is and the way it will always be.”
“(My wife) sort of put a fist down on the table and said, ‘Ladies, don’t believe it.’ Then she made an offer to the women in the audience that if they produced a film that depicted Middle Eastern women differently, she would advance that film at the Palm Beach International Film Festival to help change attitudes,” Mr. Zucaro said. “That is the kind of spur-of-the-moment thing she would do.”
Mrs. Boice-Zucaro represented the United States at four high-profile overseas business conferences during her life: the Middle East and North African Women’s Conference in Abu Dhabi; the Global Summit of Women in Berlin; the Global Summit of Women in Hanoi; and she traveled to Bolivia to speak with an audience of indigenous women about small business ownership and political action.
Longtime friend Arlene Herson, also a Boca Raton philanthropist, said Mrs. Boice-Zucaro took her under her wing decades ago, introducing her to the movers and shakers in the community so she could make essential connections. The two spoke every day about everything.
“She was an amazing woman. She made me feel special. She once gave me a pillow for my birthday that said, ‘You are the friend everyone wishes they had,’ so I would say that about her,” Herson said. “She was an extraordinary woman. I will miss our daily calls.”
Mrs. Boice-Zucaro also produced galas for the Palm Beach International Film Festival; she was involved with the Centre for the Arts in Boca Raton; was an appointee to the Palm Beach County Film and Television Commission, and chaired the 50th anniversary celebration of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
She served on the Palm Beach State College Foundation Board and funded Lynn University scholarships to support international travel.
“She never stopped doing the things that she did,” her husband said. “She was dedicated to the things that she believed in and she worked very hard to make things happen. She was the first to step up to help someone, particularly if that someone was doing something that she was interested in.”
Her appearance was very polished — hair, nails, makeup and clothes were always in order, her husband noted, reflective of the way she lived her life.
“We had a storybook romance. We were absolutely committed to each other. We loved one another very much. We traveled the world together,” he said. “We had fun together. The 15 years that I had with Yvonne were the best years of my life.”
In addition to her husband, Mrs. Boice-Zucaro is survived by her daughter Lauren, in Boston. A celebration of life was held on Jan. 20 at Glick Family Funeral Home in Boca Raton.
Memorial donations can be made to Boice-Zucaro International Programs and Services at Lynn University or the STEAM scholarship program at Palm Beach State College.