Mary Concetta Sileo

Mary Concetta Sileo, (nee Salonia), age 98, of Pompton Plains passed away peacefully on Saturday December 21, 2019 while receiving the loving care of her family.

Mary was born in Auburn, NY and was one of five children to Carmello and Antoinette Solonia.  When Mary was just a little girl, her family moved from Auburn to Paterson, NJ.  She attended Eastside High School in Paterson and was a member of the Pep Club while a student there.  During Mary’s high school years the Great Depression was in full force, and like many other young adults, Mary was taken out of high school by her parents to work and help support her family.  Mary found work as a seamstress and worked for a variety of companies over the years.

Mary was a member of demographic in our society known as the “Greatest Generation”.   People of this generation were those who grew up during the Great Depression, then witnessed and fought in the Second World War.  During the World War Two, Mary contributed greatly with her talents and skills as a seamstress, making coats for our soldiers in the armed forces.  In the early 1940’s, Mary was visiting New York City with some of her girlfriends, when she caught the eye of a young handsome man in a Navy uniform named Angelo Sileo.  Mary was just walking down the streets of Manhattan when Angelo stepped up to her and started a conversation.  Angelo was on leave and had to return to duty, however Mary agreed to write to him while he was overseas.  Mary and Angelo dated when he was on leave and as fate would have it they fell in love.  When the war ended they were married on September 1, 1946.

Mary and Angelo settled in Paterson when they were first married, living with Mary’s parents.  It wasn’t very long until Mary and Angelo bought their own house in Paterson and in 1950 welcomed their first child Michael.  Shortly after getting pregnant, Angelo and Mary decided that Mary would stay at home and be a full time homemaker.  Ten years later in 1960, Mary and Angelo welcomed their second child Linda. When Linda was five years old in 1965 the family moved to Wayne.  Mary stayed in Wayne until 2002 when Mary moved to Cedar Crest Retirement Village, in Pompton Plains.

Mary went back to work in 1966 at the cafeteria in Wayne Valley High School.  She worked there for the extra money and the hours were so that she would still be able to take care of her children, which was always her first priority.  She held this position until her retirement in 1986.

Mary and Angelo were parishioners of Annunciation Church in Wayne for many years and attended Our lady of the Valley in recent years.  Mary was a selfless person always willing to help those in need or with problems.  She lived to take charge of situations especially when there were people that needed help.  Mary also regularly donated to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  She had a wonderful sense of humor and was also very outspoken, you always knew where you stood with Mary and always received an honest answer. Mary’s greatest passion was for her family.  Being a wife, mother, and grandmother was truly Mary’s calling and where she flourished.  Mary and Angelo cherished forty nine years of loving and loyal marriage until Angelo’s passing in 1995.  Mary was a wonderful woman who touched the lives of many people and will be sincerely missed by everyone that knew her.

Mary is survived by her son Michael Sileo and his wife Jane of Rice, VA, her daughter Linda Alfieri and her husband Ralph of East Hanover, one brother John Salonia and his wife Christine of North Haledon, and two grandchildren Ralph and Andrew Alfieri, and many nieces and nephews.  She was predeceased by her husband Angelo Sileo in 1995, as well as her brothers Joseph Salonia, Santo Salonia, and her sister Lucy Malzone.

Donations in Mary’s name may be made to St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memorial Processing, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959. http://www.stjude.org