Alec Mancini

Alec Mancini, age 24, of the Packanack Lake section of Wayne, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, March 20, 2021.

Alec lived his entire life in the Packanack Lake community. Already as a young boy, he was always full of energy and enthusiasm for all that life had to offer – sailing on Packanack Lake, skate boarding, playing all kinds of local sports like football – both flag and tackle, and soccer. As a middle schooler he joined the school’s ski club and snow-boarded with his buddies at Mountain Creek in Vernon every winter. A more fearless snowboarder you’d be hard pressed to find. That fearlessness that embodied essence of Alec, resulted in broken bones literally every winter, but by stretching the boundaries, he learned to do impressive maneuvers coming down that mountain.

Alec attended Wayne Valley High School where he was on the wrestling team and excelled in his studies. After graduating with the Class of 2015, he worked for a couple of years at Seela’s Paint in Wayne – a job he started during his senior year. While the summer of 2015 brought the excitement of celebrating graduation and looking forward to the adventures that adulthood afforded, it was also a tough time emotionally for Alec as his precious mother Celine succumbed to a battle with cancer later that fall. Around that same time, Alec lost two of his closest friends and then he lost his paternal grandfather Marc Mancini whom he loved, enjoyed spending quality time with and respected incredibly. The loss of all these people that were so important in his life left Alec overwhelmed and searching. Sadly, he succumbed to drugs to help him cope.

Honestly, the last five years for Alec were a series of ups and downs. He was so determined to get clean and, while time spent in rehab was always helpful, the reality is that, part of recovery is relapse, and the powerful, evil grip that these drugs had proved too much to overcome. Alec was fighting to get his life on track. Most recently, using an app to promote his services as a general handyman and painter, Alec was working hard to develop his own business. When he relapsed, he went to rehab for a scheduled thirty days but, when the thirty days were over, Alec felt like he was making such good progress that he asked to stay for an additional ten days. Trying to get some accountability in his life, he got a sponsor and regularly attended weekly support meetings. He even gave rides to friends who would otherwise not have been able to attend these meetings that they all needed so much.

Alec had a natural God-given talent for connecting with people in all walks of life. Everyone from his counselors to his customers felt drawn to him. Already from the time he was a little kid he was able to articulate what he was thinking and feeling in such an intelligent fashion. It came as no surprise to anyone that he was recently asked to be a keynote speaker at several of his support meetings. When Alec spoke about his experiences, he pulled no punches. He would be brutally honest. But by wasting no words, he was so effective at teaching others about the hard lessons he had learned in a way that was helpful to so many of his fellow strugglers. Over these beginning months of 2021, Alec was doing great!  He was looking healthier, sounding better and he even recently told his father that for the first time in a long time, he was looking forward to life. There was a peace in his home that was not always there. Alec felt like he had a new passion for the future and was looking into college courses to prepare himself for a career as a drug counselor. Knowing that he could speak to the subject with great authority and empathy, he wanted to inspire others to challenge and overcome their own struggles in life.    

Alec loved to read – especially biographies. He loved music and he had pages of lyrics that he wrote himself. He even wrote his own music, laid down the tracks, put the beats together, and recorded his own raps.

Jesus said in His holy word in the gospel of John, “Let the person who is without fault, throw the first stone.” It would be easy to just write Alec off as just another person who got into drugs and ruined his life and the lives of those around him, and that he got what he deserved. But we all have struggles and temptations in our life. Alec knew that and so many times he would take the blame to cover for his friends transgressions. Despite not being perfect (welcome to life on this side of heaven), Alec still managed to do his best, despite his addictions, to bless others. He was broken, but he was also intelligent, hilarious, generous to a fault, and he did his best to use his magnetic personality to also be a good influence and to encourage his fellow traveler through this life.

Alec was the incredibly loved son of his father Christopher Mancini of Wayne and his mother Celine (Felsetta) Mancini who passed away in 2015. He was the big brother of Serena Mancini and Setira Mancini, both of Wayne; dear nephew of Father Marc Mancini of Totowa, Nick and wife Alejandra Mancini of Bloomfield, and dear Aunt Mellie Rohr of New York City. He is also survived by his loving maternal grandfather Gabe Felsetta and wife Tina of Queens, NY, and was also predeceased by his maternal grandmother Harriet Felsetta, and his paternal grandparents Marc and Mary Mancini.

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Those planning an expression of sympathy in Alec’s name are asked to consider a donation to BlueCrest Recovery Center of Woodland Park, NJ. To donate, click on this link which will take you to a GoFundMe page that has been set up to donate to this cause.