Joan Sallustio

Giovanna (Joan) Sallustio, a wife, mother, and grandmother, died on Thursday, August 25. She was 91.
Joan was born in 1931 in Molfetta, Italy, a small coastal city north of Bari, nestled right on the shore of the Adriatic Sea. She immigrated to the United States with her father, mother and younger brother and settled in Hoboken, New Jersey. She left school to work as a seamstress crafting Italian wool coats.
It was in Hoboken where she met her now late-husband and love of her life, Gaetano, who she married in 1951. The two raised their family in Carteret, New Jersey and later moved to Port Richey, Florida. Joan is survived by her brother John Amato, as well as her five daughters: Mary Cuocci (Larry), Rose Anne Pyzik, Gerri Moran (Andrew), Michele Gerace (Michael) and Maureen Sallustio. She also lives on in her 10 grandchildren and six great grandchildren. She is predeceased by her loving husband of 71 years and her son-in-law, Frank Pyzik.
Family was everything to Joan and she reveled in caring for her husband, children and grandchildren. When she was home, she was almost always in the kitchen, making sure there were plenty of homemade meals available whether you were hungry or not. From fried zucchini fritters and eggplant parmesan to her famous focaccia pizza there was never a shortage of things to eat in the house. Although, Joan preferred having something sweet herself usually an Entenmann's crumb cake which was her favorite.
Joan shined on Christmas Eve, preparing for weeks beforehand to make sure the seven fish dishes were perfectly prepared. On that day she welcomed grandkids into the kitchen, teaching them to roll out pizza dough for hand held frites on the giant wooden platform lugged up from the basement annually. She found so much joy in caring for others, from removing any stain from any fabric to secretly slipping some spending money into the pocket of a grandchild these thoughtful acts of love and kindness is how she showed her affection and her family couldn t be more grateful. She will be greatly missed.
Visitation will be Thursday, September 1 from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM at Paul Ippolito Memorial in Berkeley Heights, 646 Springfield Ave, New Jersey. A funeral mass will be held immediately following at 11:00 AM at The Church of the Little Flower also in Berkeley Heights. Interment will be at Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington, NJ. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Alzheimer s Association https://www.alz.org/