Giovanna Leone

Giovanna Leone (nee Scaramia), age 88, a resident of Wayne for over forty years, passed Monday, December 11, 2023.

She was born in Santa Croce Camerina, Sicily, Italy to Giovanni and Giuseppina Scaramia

She will be lovingly remembered for her boundless warmth and joy, found immense fulfillment in the simple pleasures of life.  Her kitchen was a sanctuary where she artfully crafted Italian specialties, infusing each dish with love and tradition.  A gifted seamstress, who worked at the Macy’s store in Wayne for many years, Giovanna transformed fabrics into exquisite creations, weaving stories and memories into every stich.  Her love for dance manifested in her home where the rhythm of life flowed seamlessly.  Hosting gatherings at her home became an art form for Giovanna, as she orchestrated evenings filled with laughter, wonderful aromas, and a sense of family and belonging. Family was at the heart of her world, and her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and extended family, were the stars in her life’s tapestry.  Giovanna’s legacy was not just in her delicious recipes, skill with the needle and thread, or graceful dance steps but in the enduring love that radiated from the heart of her home.

Giovanna met Ovidio Leone during her youth working at the Paterson sewing mills.  She was set up on a blind date by Ecla D’aleo as her brother, Ovidio Leone, had just emigrated to the United States.  Giovanna departed on the MS Vulcania on July 8, 1955 and Ovidio arrived shortly after on August 9th, 1955 on Queen Frederica. In order for Ovidio to go on a date with Giovanna he had to request permission from her father to take her to a local Italian dance.  Her dad granted his permission and assigned Giovanna’s brother to chaperone the two as tradition at the time did not allow you to date alone. Giovanna’s father called Ovidio aside and said if he loved Giovanna, he had three months to marry her.  Her father was going to be married for the third time and wanted Giovanna to marry before he did.  Giovanna’s father’s two prior wives whom he loved very much passed away due to illness and Giovanna then became like a mother / caretaker to her siblings.  Giovanna and Ovidio married on January 25, 1958, at a Catholic church in Paterson.  They actually had a dual wedding with Ovidio’s sister who had introduced them.  Giovanna and Ovidio honeymooned in New York City and settled into life in Paterson.  They moved to Wayne in 1979 where they had a loving marriage of forty-six years that was blessed with six children.

Giovanna was the loving wife of forty-six years to the late Ovidio G. Leone (d. 2004); loving mother of Josephine Leone-Mirra of Little Falls, Diana Opirhory and her husband Douglas of Bayville, Luigi Leone of Lincoln Park, John Leone of Paterson, David Leone of Little Egg Harbor, and Lillian Leone-Loehwing and her husband Scott of Stockholm; she was the cherished grandmother of Daniela Perillo, Carmine Mirra, Davide Mirra, Jacquelynn Opirhory, Caitlin Opirhory, Ashley Opirhory, Daniel Opirhory, Christopher Opirhory; dearly loved great-grandmother of Sofia Perillo, Sara Elphick, Samantha Mirra, Giovanna Mirra and Sasha Opirhory; loved sister of the late Giuseppe Scaramia and his late wife Rosetta, Salvatore Scaramia and his wife Giovanna of Hawthorne, and Maria Guarino and her husband Gerard of Wayne; and she was the dearly loved aunt to many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations to the American Heart Association would be greatly appreciated.