Obituaries/Viewings
Marie Cecilia "Ceil" Jovenitti | 94
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Marie Cecilia “Ceil” Jovenitti, of St. Marys, passed away Friday, October 8, 2021, at the Elk Haven Nursing Home, after a lengthy illness. She was 94 years of age.
Ceil was born January 10, 1927 and was raised in Johnsonburg, the second daughter of Tom and Anna Falcone Bianco. She had been living in St. Marys since 1968 where her husband Floyd’s business requirements and opportunities were more prosperous.
She attended Holy Rosary School (grades 1-8) and then graduated from Johnsonburg High School in 1945.
On June 24, 1947, Ceil married her lifelong friend, Floyd Jovenitti, who lived on the same street in Johnsonburg. The wedding at Holy Rosary Church was performed by Father Wyzbinski. Prior to her marriage, Ceil was the secretary for Harold Beardsley at Castanea Paper Mill in Johnsonburg (prior to the NY and PA Paper Company’s acquisition of the mill).
After marriage, Ceil devoted her time to raising her four children and teaching piano. She was a devout member of the Holy Rosary Church in Johnsonburg and the organist for the Holy Rosary choir.
After moving to St. Marys in 1968, Ceil and her husband devoted much of their time to Sacred Heart Church in St. Marys. Ceil was a member of the Saint Anne’s Society and the Catholic Daughters of America. She and Floyd were Eucharistic Ministers and they both were volunteers for the church functions and for Hospice Care and St. Marys Hospital Transport Support. Ceil and Floyd, both avid piano and keyboard trained, played and sang for many nursing homes and assisted-living facilities throughout Elk, Jefferson, Cameron, and McKean Counties. Ceil was also a volunteer at the St. Marys Adult Daycare Center and the Resale Shop. She worked part-time for G.C. Murphy’s, then located on Erie Avenue in St. Marys. She also worked at Sylvania in Emporium during the 60’s and 70’s.
Ceil is preceded in death by her father and mother, Tom and Anna Bianco; her elder sister, Corrine Bianco; her two younger brothers, Thomas and Edwin Bianco; her loving husband, Floyd; and her first-born child, Julianne “Julie” Jovenitti Cullen. She was the last member of her immediate family.
She is survived by her only son, Paul Jovenitti of Glen Hazel; and by her daughters, Valerie Marie Jovenitti Biel of St. Marys and Mary Therese Jovenitti Wilson of Janesville, WI. She is also survived by her three grandchildren, Dawn Wilson Brown of Bozeman, MT, Jackie Wilson of Janesville, WI, and Sheila Cullen Woltering of Annapolis, MD. Ceil had two great-grandchildren, Ingrid Cassidy Brown and Sage Cecilia Brown, both of Bozeman, MT; and by nieces and nephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in the Sacred Heart Church on Monday, October 11, 2021, at 10:00 AM, with the Rev. Thomas Curry, OSB, Pastor, officiating. Burial will follow in the Holy Rosary Cemetery in Johnsonburg.
Visitation is at the Lynch-Radkowski Funeral Home on Monday morning, from 8:30 until 9:30 AM.
Memorials, if desired may be made to the Sacred Heart Church, 337 Center Street, St. Marys, PA 15857 or to the Elk Haven Nursing Home Activity Fund, 785 Johnsonburg Road, St. Marys, PA 15857.
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I will always love you, my dear friend. I will miss watching “Little House on the Prairie” and “The Walton’s” with you and sharing string cheese and nutter butter bars together. I will miss your sweet smile and will always cherish our conversations. Rest in peace now with our Lord Jesus and your sweet Floyd. You will be very missed.
I am sorry for your loss, although trust your mom and dad are joyously reunited in God’s Peace. Both of them were such decent, loving and charismatic people. They lit up a room, or just a conversation between two. May you find comfort among friends and family, and in the most beautiful Catholic funeral Mass.
Alan and I are so very sorry for your loss.
Alan and Ginny Schneider