Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Calls outside of office hours? No worries! Our team will respond within 10–15 minutes.
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Saturday, May 30, 2015 from 12:00 to 3:30 PM. A Funeral Service will immediately follow the time of visitation and begin at 3:30 PM.
Josephine A. Dunsheath, age 82, of Wayne and formerly of Clifton, on Tuesday, May 26, 2015.
Josephine A. “Tootsie” “Jo” Dunsheath, age 82, of Wayne and formerly of Clifton, died unexpectedly at her home on Tuesday, May 26, 2015.
A cherished mother, grandmother and sister, Jo was born in Paterson, the oldest of Alexander and Josephine Dunsheath’s three children. She grew up in Passaic where she graduated from Passaic High School.
Following high school Jo went to work as an Administrative Assistant for the ITT Corporation in Nutley. Soon after she married and eventually her role transitioned from office worker to full-time homemaker and mom. While living in Passaic, initially on Hope Ave. and later 6th Ave., she was blessed with a baby boy - Robert “Bob”. In 1964, the family moved once again, this time to Fernwood Court in Clifton. That same year Jo was blessed with the birth of little Allyson “Ally” - that little girl that every mom longs for. Three years later, she gave Bob and Ally a little brother named Thomas “Tom”.
Eventually, Jo returned to the workplace, first for a local publisher in Clifton and later for Popular Club – a mail order catalog company located in Garfield. Her love and devotion to her children, and later her grandchildren, was always Jo’s primary focus and it was through them that she found her greatest life purpose.
Jo derived great enjoyment from the performing arts and that love was contagious, especially to her son Bob who gained his own personal appreciation through Jo’s inspiration. When he was a young boy, she’d take him to Broadway shows and, to this day, he has fond memories of going with Mom to see Dick Van Dyke star on Broadway in Bye Bye Birdie and Richard Burton perform in Camelot. When Bob was older, he enjoyed returning the favor, annually taking Jo to several shows at the New York City Opera in Lincoln Center.
Jo was famous for her amazing birthday cakes, onetime making one for her daughter Ally when she was just a little girl. It was a cake that Jo created to look like a beautiful figure of a Barbie doll. Much to Ally’s horror, the cake was dropped and so her older brother Bob had to come to the rescue with an alternative traditional cake. When Ally grew up and had children of her own, Jo became a great source of support in the care of those children. Allyson’s daughter Samantha was Jo’s first grandchild and the story is told of how Jo didn’t want to be called “Grandma” or “Nana”, choosing the name “Grand-mère” instead because she felt it sounded a bit more dignified. Much to Jo’s chagrin Samantha couldn’t pronounce the name Grand-mère, choosing instead to call Jo “Jar-Jar”. The name “Jar Jar” was endearing and, as the years went on and Jo was blessed with four more grandchildren, they too called her Jar Jar. In 1996, Jo had open heart surgery. It was at this time that she moved in to her daughter Ally’s home in Wayne. Again, the love and inspiration that Jo gave to her dear grandchildren came back to her as a blessed gift as Jo often testified that her grandchildren’s love and devotion was pivotal to nursing her back to health.
Jo had a two-fold reason for taking trips to Arizona. First she got to visit her son Tom and his family; and second, she got to temporarily escape the cold NJ winters. Tom will always have wonderful memories of Jo’s amazing creative flair – especially expressed in the Halloween costumes that she dreamed up and made for him and his siblings. While her best creations included the ostrich costume she made for Ally and the Riddler (a character from the popular Batman series) costume she made for Bob, it was the Evil Knievel costume she made for Tom that was probably her finest moment as Tom was the proud winner one Halloween in the costume contest highlighted that year in Clifton’s City Parade.
Jo preferred to keep things in her life pretty simple and straightforward. Quiet and somewhat private, she was most devoted to her family, and if you were her friend, you were a friend for keeps! Other than trips to see her son in Arizona or her sister Reenie in Florida, Jo didn’t leave the confines of Passaic County that much. Despite this propensity for provinciality, she had an amazing world-wide consciousness. Aided by her love for reading, she enjoyed keeping up on current events. She had a great fashion sense and always exhibited a knowledge for what the most up-to-date styles were and what was going on in show-business. In her day she was a great cook and baker, belonging one time with a group of girlfriends to a gourmet club. Those who had the privilege of knowing Jo will always hold dear memories in their hearts and she will be greatly missed.
Surviving are her three dear children: Robert Marron and wife Denise of Astoria, NY, Allyson Minnella of Wayne, and Thomas Marron and wife Edith of Chandler, AZ; five adored grandchildren: Samantha, Jamie, Anthony, Alyssa, and Thomas; and her dear sister Irene Bonjiorno of Florida. Josephine was predeceased by her brother Richard Dunsheath.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Saturday, May 30, 2015 from 12:00 to 3:30 PM. A Funeral Service will immediately follow the time of visitation and begin at 3:30 PM.
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Saturday, May 30, 2015 from 12:00 to 3:30 PM. A Funeral Service will immediately follow the time of visitation and begin at 3:30 PM.
Josephine A. Dunsheath, age 82, of Wayne and formerly of Clifton, on Tuesday, May 26, 2015.
Josephine A. “Tootsie” “Jo” Dunsheath, age 82, of Wayne and formerly of Clifton, died unexpectedly at her home on Tuesday, May 26, 2015.
A cherished mother, grandmother and sister, Jo was born in Paterson, the oldest of Alexander and Josephine Dunsheath’s three children. She grew up in Passaic where she graduated from Passaic High School.
Following high school Jo went to work as an Administrative Assistant for the ITT Corporation in Nutley. Soon after she married and eventually her role transitioned from office worker to full-time homemaker and mom. While living in Passaic, initially on Hope Ave. and later 6th Ave., she was blessed with a baby boy - Robert “Bob”. In 1964, the family moved once again, this time to Fernwood Court in Clifton. That same year Jo was blessed with the birth of little Allyson “Ally” - that little girl that every mom longs for. Three years later, she gave Bob and Ally a little brother named Thomas “Tom”.
Eventually, Jo returned to the workplace, first for a local publisher in Clifton and later for Popular Club – a mail order catalog company located in Garfield. Her love and devotion to her children, and later her grandchildren, was always Jo’s primary focus and it was through them that she found her greatest life purpose.
Jo derived great enjoyment from the performing arts and that love was contagious, especially to her son Bob who gained his own personal appreciation through Jo’s inspiration. When he was a young boy, she’d take him to Broadway shows and, to this day, he has fond memories of going with Mom to see Dick Van Dyke star on Broadway in Bye Bye Birdie and Richard Burton perform in Camelot. When Bob was older, he enjoyed returning the favor, annually taking Jo to several shows at the New York City Opera in Lincoln Center.
Jo was famous for her amazing birthday cakes, onetime making one for her daughter Ally when she was just a little girl. It was a cake that Jo created to look like a beautiful figure of a Barbie doll. Much to Ally’s horror, the cake was dropped and so her older brother Bob had to come to the rescue with an alternative traditional cake. When Ally grew up and had children of her own, Jo became a great source of support in the care of those children. Allyson’s daughter Samantha was Jo’s first grandchild and the story is told of how Jo didn’t want to be called “Grandma” or “Nana”, choosing the name “Grand-mère” instead because she felt it sounded a bit more dignified. Much to Jo’s chagrin Samantha couldn’t pronounce the name Grand-mère, choosing instead to call Jo “Jar-Jar”. The name “Jar Jar” was endearing and, as the years went on and Jo was blessed with four more grandchildren, they too called her Jar Jar. In 1996, Jo had open heart surgery. It was at this time that she moved in to her daughter Ally’s home in Wayne. Again, the love and inspiration that Jo gave to her dear grandchildren came back to her as a blessed gift as Jo often testified that her grandchildren’s love and devotion was pivotal to nursing her back to health.
Jo had a two-fold reason for taking trips to Arizona. First she got to visit her son Tom and his family; and second, she got to temporarily escape the cold NJ winters. Tom will always have wonderful memories of Jo’s amazing creative flair – especially expressed in the Halloween costumes that she dreamed up and made for him and his siblings. While her best creations included the ostrich costume she made for Ally and the Riddler (a character from the popular Batman series) costume she made for Bob, it was the Evil Knievel costume she made for Tom that was probably her finest moment as Tom was the proud winner one Halloween in the costume contest highlighted that year in Clifton’s City Parade.
Jo preferred to keep things in her life pretty simple and straightforward. Quiet and somewhat private, she was most devoted to her family, and if you were her friend, you were a friend for keeps! Other than trips to see her son in Arizona or her sister Reenie in Florida, Jo didn’t leave the confines of Passaic County that much. Despite this propensity for provinciality, she had an amazing world-wide consciousness. Aided by her love for reading, she enjoyed keeping up on current events. She had a great fashion sense and always exhibited a knowledge for what the most up-to-date styles were and what was going on in show-business. In her day she was a great cook and baker, belonging one time with a group of girlfriends to a gourmet club. Those who had the privilege of knowing Jo will always hold dear memories in their hearts and she will be greatly missed.
Surviving are her three dear children: Robert Marron and wife Denise of Astoria, NY, Allyson Minnella of Wayne, and Thomas Marron and wife Edith of Chandler, AZ; five adored grandchildren: Samantha, Jamie, Anthony, Alyssa, and Thomas; and her dear sister Irene Bonjiorno of Florida. Josephine was predeceased by her brother Richard Dunsheath.
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