Janie Sebastiana Gioco

Janie Sebastiana Russo Gioco, 98, passed away peacefully on April 28th at Middlesex Hospital Hospice surrounded by her loving family. She succumbed to heart failure after living a full active and independent life in Middletown. Janie was the daughter of Sebastian and Josephine Russo of Green Street, Middletown. She is predeceased by her beloved husband, Anthony S. Gioco. She leaves two sons, Anthony J. Gioco and his wife, Lorraine and grandson, Benjamin of West Hartford, and son, Raymond J. Gioco and his wife, Roseanne and grandson, Matthew Gioco, and grandson, Anthony Louis Gioco and his wife, Kathleen and great granddaughters, Maria and Isabella of Middletown. Janie was also predeceased by two brothers, Michael and Louis Russo and two sisters, Rose Russo Salonia and Lena Russo Carta of Middletown. She will be missed by many nieces and nephews as well.
Janie spent her early years in Bedford, New York and remembered the family home and the town's rustic beauty and warmth with many stories. One of her favorite is of a teenage Janie leaving Bedford for the big city of Brooklyn New York, where she lived and worked with relatives. The sights and sounds of Grand Central Station, Coney Island and the New York subways of the 1930's came alive through her memories that she shared with us and will forever be a source of comfort to us all. As Janie was raising her family in Middletown, she worked for many years as a seamstress at Jerome Garment and Laurel Fashions. There she cultivated lifetime friendships that meant the world to her. Once again Janie, ever social and outgoing, shared her life with many friends and they continued to live with her if in memory only. Equally important was her ever abiding faith in the Lord and her church. Her religious convictions were the foundation of her thinking and the thing that guided her throughout her life. She often said, "Though you cannot touch, though you cannot not see, there is an Angel watching over me" We are sure there, Mom. Words cannot express how much your love and compassion, spirit, and humor will be missed in our lives.
Our sincere thanks to the entire staff of Middlesex Hospital Hospice and Palliative Care for the love and attention to our beloved mother. Donations may be made to Middlesex Hospital Hospice and Palliative Care, (Attn: Melaine Cama) 28 crescent Street, Middletown, CT 06457 of St. Sebastian Church Renovation Fund. 155 Washington Street, Middletown, CT 06457.
Funeral Services will be held Wednesday, May 1st at 10:30 A.M. from the D' Angelo Funeral Home followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11 A.M. at St. Sebastian Church. Burial will follow in the family plot in St. Sebastian Cemetery, Middlefield. Relatives and friends may call at the Funeral Home Wednesday morning from 9-10:30 A.M.