Anna Graziano

Anne Graziano died peacefully at home Saturday, May 1, 2021. Anne was born in Paterson, New Jersey to Jerry and Teresa, immigrants from southern Italy. She grew up with her two sisters Lena and Josephine and her brother Thomas. Since her parents were native to Italy, they also taught her and her siblings to speak Italian. Growing up she appreciated music and developed a lifelong love of tap dancing. As a junior and senior at Central High in Paterson, she was cheerleading co-captain and enjoyed cheering for football and basketball. Through the years she continued to vigorously belt out the Central High cheer at family get togethers. She was also known to be a great baton twirler! It was clear to see how much she loved school and cheering, and her family loved her enthusiasm. While a senior in high school, she took a part time job at Woolworth as a salesperson and after graduating remained at Woolworth full time as a manager. After a couple of years, she moved on to First National Bank of Passaic as a manager in the loan department.

During this time, she met the love of her life, Joe Graziano, after being introduced by friends. The two were married June 2, 1957. At that time Joe was still in college and Anne was the couple’s sole breadwinner. Later on, she stopped working when she was 6 months pregnant as it was company policy that women were not allowed to work beyond that point. The couple welcomed the first of their three daughters (Joanne, Sharon and Dawn) and moved to their forever home in Wayne a few years later.

After leaving work at the bank, Anne became a dedicated homemaker. She was a wonderful cook and her family enjoyed Italian specialties like macaroni and meatballs, chicken parmigiana, lasagna, stuffed peppers, chicken livers and onions, broccoli rabe and, of course, sausage and peppers. She also took pride in her home and enjoyed decorating it and keeping it neat and clean. She was a wonderful mother, involved in fun activities with her daughters like playing jacks on the kitchen floor, coloring and playing dolls and games, watching favorite TV shows together, and dancing to a variety of music. She also enjoyed sharing her Roman Catholic faith with her daughters by attending church with them on Sundays.  

As they grew older, she served as an incredible role model--an empathetic, giving person that was kind to everyone, a mother that every child would be blessed to have and a loving wife to her husband Joe that she adored. Her natural warmth, compassion and the depth of her love were always felt in her hug. Her hug could melt away a thousand worries and fill your soul. Her daughters endearingly saw her as the sunshine in their every day. She would often say to them “I love you more than you’ll ever know.” They loved her just the same.

She and Joe loved their life together. They were a traditional Italian couple that treasured their home life with their girls and really enjoyed having family over for barbeques and to hang out on the patio and by the pool. Anne would enjoy telling jokes and stories as the family gathered around her on the patio. In addition to the backyard barbecues, she loved mid-afternoon Sunday dinner and holidays that were filled with love, laughter, and plenty of antipasto, lasagna and ham. She and Joe could be seen every day holding hands, whether they were sitting at their kitchen table, on the couch in the family room or outside sitting on their patio. Their love for each other was endearing and precious. It grew more tender with each passing year of their life together. Through their more than 60 years of marriage, Joe and Anne enjoyed family vacations to the Jersey Shore, Florida and the Poconos. Later in life, she and Joe enjoyed trips to Atlantic City, especially with her sister Lena and brother-in-law Dom, and her brother Tom and sister-in-law Pat.

Anne had a keen mind for politics, could discuss a broad range of issues and was a C-span junkie. She also was a stickler for English and when her daughters would ask how to spell a word, she sent them right to the dictionary to look it up. She often tested their knowledge of words and their use. Her daughters all received A’s in English. Her three daughters are also happily married and are good cooks, thanks to her excellent guidance and example. Her youngest daughter is a doctor, practicing internal medicine, her middle daughter is a sign language interpreter, working with the deaf and blind, and her first born runs a soup kitchen, feeding the poor. Her daughters collectively embody their Mom’s qualities, talents and aspirations.

Anne’s husband Joe passed away earlier this year on January 20, 2021. Anne is survived by her daughter Joanne Bleecker and her husband Earl of Flanders, NJ, her daughter Sharon Snyder and her husband Dave of Branchburg, NJ and her daughter Dawn Chung and her husband Ed of Clemmons, NC, four grandchildren Kyle Lowery-Graziano, Katelyn Lowery-Graziano, Jordan Snyder and Nicole Chung and a sister Lena Duva of North Haledon, NJ. The family is deeply grateful for all the care provided in the past four years by their Mom’s live-in caregiver Val.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Brain Foundation, at 201 Chicago Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55415. They work to research and cure various conditions and diseases like Dementia, Alzheimer’s and other neurologic disorders. Or donations can be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105. They work to research and cure childhood cancer.