Nicholas Vallario

Nicholas “Nick” Vallario

Early on the morning of December 11, 2025, Nicholas “Nick” Vallario, devoted husband and dear 
friend to so many, died at the age of 82, leaving the world a much better place for the life he 
lived. Nick shared much of his life’s adventures with Susan Vallario, his wife of forty-six years, 
through love, work, travels and service to others.

To know and love Nick was to be out in the world with him, meeting and connecting with people 
through the ease of his presence. In a diner in a new town, having breakfast--“What is your name?” 
he would smile and ask our server. “Nancy? Thank you Nancy.” Thus opening a conversation to learn 
she was from here, and what we should see while we were here, and recommendations for dinner, and 
on and on. Life with Nick was a journey of profound humility.

Asking questions was Nick’s superpower. Insatiably curious and an avid, patient listener, he made 
questions his half of any dialog, coaxing you to think, trying to get you to the nub of the thing. 
But Nick had many other powers – he put himself through college, first getting an Associate’s 
Degree at Hudson Valley Community College, and then, over years, mostly at night, earning 
Bachelor’s Degrees in Environmental Science and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Nick 
was a careful observer, camera at the ready, eager to know how the world worked.

With strong hands and a keen mind, Nick had a knack for fixing things. In the 1960s, employed by 
New York Tel, Nick drove a truck and fixed phones for customers in Harlem and downtown New York 
City. Nick then went on to co-found a scientific instrument company. In the 1970s, he took a big 
pay cut and joined a scrappy, talented team that was helping fix a sorely broken part of New Jersey 
– the Meadowlands. Nick joined Chet Mattson at the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission to 
help underpin planning with a data-driven scientific understanding of the estuary’s system ecology, 
stresses and hydrology. Nick brought his iconic Volkswagen Camper to help support the teams on the 
many 24-hour tidal study marathons, in all weather, in all conditions. The scientific understanding 
followed and made all the difference, dispelling myths and promoting change.

It was at the HMDC that Nick met, worked with, courted and married his life companion, Susan 
Anisfield. Nick later hired a young intern named Jim Kocis, also hell-bent on fixing the world, and 
the two became life-long friends. Nick co-authored several major scientific studies and was 
appointed Director of the Meadowlands Environment Center when it opened in 1982. Nick next went on 
to work for many years helping modernize production operations at a Westwood, NJ lighting 
manufacturer, the Kurt Versen Company.

Over the decades, Susan and Nick were inseparable, living, working and traveling together with 
ease. With his mechanical chops and his love of the great outdoors, it was no surprise that Nick 
and motorcycles would get along. He and Susan logged tens of thousands of miles on two wheels( sometimes three!) over decades of meticulously planned road 
trips across the United States and throughout the world.

Nick became a much-loved member of Susan’s family, particularly enjoying a shared sense of humor, 
mutual respect and deep affection with Susan’s sister, Nancy Anisfield. In time, Nick and Jim Kocis 
were like brothers. Nick and Susan became the adopted grandparents of Jim and Alice Kocis’ two 
children, Cecily and Eliza. They will all miss him dearly.

At Ramapo College, Nick and Susan found a place to devote their time and energy. 
From Cindy R.Jebb, President of the College:
Nick’s devotion to Ramapo College was profound and enduring. Alongside
Susan, his wife of 46 years, he championed educational opportunity, equity, intellectual curiosity, 
and humanity. Together, they shared a love of travel, motorcycles, conservation, and Native 
American art and design. Nick often spoke of Susan with a deep and quiet admiration—for her wisdom, 
kindness, and the equanimity she brought to his life. Their nearly five decades of partnership were 
marked by mutual respect, shared purpose, and enduring admiration.

Nick and Susan’s shared philanthropy launched the College’s Pathways Program and the Ramapo College 
Center for Investigative Genetic Genealogy, helped the College build and design our 21st century 
Learning Commons and, most recently, established the Susan and Nick Vallario Endowment for the 
Digital Innovation Institute, the Susan and Nick Vallario Endowment for Presidential Scholarships, 
and the Susan and Nick Vallario Endowment for the We Care Program in addition to numerous other 
gifts in support of the College’s mission. Their earnest and generous acts will support generations 
of Ramapo students and faculty and continue the work Nick valued: expanding access, nurturing 
curiosity and self-worth, and fostering an educated citizenry.

Through his generosity, steadfast support of the College, and quiet acts of kindness, Nick helped 
make education accessible in ways that empowered others to feel confident, valued, and capable. He 
knew that when people experience education in this fuller sense, they carry it forward. In this 
way, Nick’s life stands as a reminder that when education is rooted in dignity and respect, it does 
more than change individual lives; it makes the world itself a kinder, fairer, and better place for 
everyone.

In lieu of flowers donations in memory of Nicholas can be made to Ramapo College Foundation of NJ www.ramapo.edu