Philomena Ann Giannini

Philomena Ann Giannini, age 92 of Wayne, passed away peacefully on Sunday, November 10, 2024.

Ann was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey to Lillian and Joseph Cifelli, growing up as one of four children. After graduating from West Side High School, Newark, she attended the Washington School for Secretaries, which led to her first job in a doctors’ office in Essex County.

Later, she caught the eye of Anthony Giannini, a returning army soldier from military service in Korea, who happened to live across the street from her, while waiting at a bus stop. Anthony asked Ann on a first date to see Johnny Ray at the Paramount Theater in New York City. Persistence paid off and Ann and Anthony fell in love . They got married on November 14, 1954 at St. Rocco’s RC Church in Newark and honeymooned in Miami Beach, Florida.

Upon marriage Ann and Anthony lived in the Ivy Hill Section of Newark. They later purchased and moved into their three family house in Irvington where they started a family and were blessed with three boys. As the family grew they were looking to move to a larger home outside of the area. Anthony was looking for homes in Wayne however, Ann wasn’t ready to leave their tight-knit community in Irvington for what was then considered “the country”. In 1966, she finally agreed to the move and never looked back. They became parishioners at Holy Cross Church where they were involved in the church community and formed many long standing friendships. They were members of the Wayne Elks and the Golden Age Circle. They made Wayne their home and lived there for 58 years. During that time they saw Wayne grow from the “country” to the town it is today. Once her boys were in school, Ann began working at the Wayne Public Library in 1975 where she remained for 23 years before retiring in January 1999.

Ann and her family spent many summers enjoying the salty sea air of the Jersey shore together. She and Anthony shared a love of travel, venturing to Hawaii for their twenty-fifth anniversary and traveling to Italy with family and friends. They also enjoyed regular trips to California to visit Ann’s sister Louise. Despite the thousands of miles between them, the two sisters stayed as close as the day they moved apart, talking nearly every day with one another.

Ann leaves behind a legacy of boundless love and devotion to her family and friends. A natural hostess, she loved to entertain friends and family at their home in Wayne, preparing countless meals for celebrations and holidays all while maintaining a full-time job. She was always well dressed and glamorous, and her grandkids affectionately referred to her as “Glam-ma”. Her friends and family will miss her incredible cooking, baking, and most of all her loving presence in each of their lives.

Ann is survived by her sister Louise Wolfe: her children Michael and wife Virginia (Federico) of Wayne, NJ, Anthony and wife Sharon (Leins) of Blandon, Pa and Daughter-in-Law Jane (Kunis) of Bethlehem, Pa; and cherished grandmother of six grandchildren: Anthony, Deanna, Michael, Christina, Stephanie and Ava and her two great grandchildren: Kinsey and Liam. She is predeceased by her husband Anthony (2017), her son Robert (2004), her parents: Joseph and Lillian Cifelli; and her siblings Anthony Cifelli and Joseph Cifelli.