Our Family: An American Love Story

Constance DelVecchio Maltese was born in Bushwick on January 25th, 1933, the daughter of Joseph and Else (Hinkel) DelVecchio. Her childhood pastime of drawing quickly blossomed, and Constance became known as the class artist, receiving her first art award in junior high school. She attended the High School of Industrial Arts, then the Parsons School of Design (on scholarship), as well as New York University and the Art Students' League of New York. She began her career at Norcross Greeting Cards, then went on to Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and ultimately many other clients during her long freelance career. During this time, she married Serphin Maltese, had two daughters, Andrea and Leslie, and lived in Middle Village. In the 1980s, Constance began her interest in portraiture. And in 1992, her acclaimed "Age of Discovery Navigators," a 13-portrait series of 15th and 16th Century explorers, was featured in a two-year exhibition at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in New York City as well as made into decorative plates sold by Publix Supermarkets. Her "American Women of Distinction" series, 10 paintings depicting women from different ethnic backgrounds and different areas of expertise, followed in the first decade of the new century. In recent years, Constance's commissions included City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, which hangs in New York City Hall, William F. Buckley, Jr., which hangs in the National Review Institute, and many other governmental and judicial noteables. In 2017, she presented to the Triangle Fire Memorial Association her painting of her grandfather, Serafino Maltese, husband of Caterina Maltese, in honor of the three family members Catarina (39) and daughters Lucia (19) and Rosarea (14), who were victims of the fire and all the 146 victims who died on March 25, 1911. Among Constance's many awards are the Johnson & Johnson International Film Festival Award and the Woman of the Year Award from the Association. Cultorale Italiana Di N.Y., Federazione Italo-Americano, and Italian Charities of America, Queens Borough Citation of Honor, and the Governor's Award for Excellence. Constance had been an active member of the illustrious Society of Illustrators and the Art Students League as well as a board member of the Queens Theatre in the Park and Chair of the Queens Council on the Arts. She was knighted by the government of Italy and given the title of Cavaliere. In addition to painting, Constance was an accomplished sculptor and was the author and illustrator of two Art books and the author of a family history book on her German American mother's side - Else Hinkel Del Vecchio. She loved to garden and play her baby grand piano, which she had had since her teens, and for years was a regular at the Juniper Valley Park tennis courts. Constance passed away on December 7, 2018. Her loving family published her book in memory in September 2025. Constance is survived by her husband of 63 years, Serphin, as well as her daughters Andrea and Leslie Maltese, son-in-law Arthur Spanarkel, granddaughters Sondra McGill, Eva McGill, and Genevieve Spanarkel, and grandson James McGill. Her entire family is lucky to have had her in their lives and have been the subject of her artwork over the years, and will forever cherish those portraits.