Cecere, Joanne
Joanne (Mascolo) Cecere of Palm City, Florida, passed peacefully in her sleep on Thursday, January 26th in the comfort of her nursing home surrounded by her loved ones and her adoring nurses and CNAS. She was 95 years old. Joanne was born on April 9th, 1927 to the late Enrico & Florence (Andreoli) Mascolo. She was born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut where she attended local schools with her beloved siblings Anthony, John, Lucy and Virginia. She later went on to Hillyer College where she gained her Secretarial Degree. As a young lady she secured her dream job at Holo-krome in Newington, Ct, as an Executive Secretary. She worked there for several years before meeting and marrying the love of her life Francis 'Frank' Cecere.
Frank and Joanne were married on March 8th, 1958 in the quaint Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. After marrying they settled down in Wethersfield, Connecticut and built a beautiful family and home together with their four daughters: Christine, Jo-ann, Cathy and Bobbie.
She tragically lost her daughter Jo-ann Furlong in a car accident when she was just 22 years young. It was a heartbreaking time for Joanne and her family. Losing a daughter devastated her and it was an event in her life she truly struggled to overcome, but while she pushed herself to persevere and be there for her other three daughters and husband, it always weighed heavy on her heart.
Frank and Joanne shared a love like no other, dancing through life from one year to the next. Joanne loved to dance! Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, anything Jazz or Big Band, you name it and she was on the dance floor. She loved it so much that she insisted on teaching Frank to dance, and from the moment she did, they stole every dance floor. Parties, weddings, the kitchen, life was their dance floor, and everywhere they danced people couldn't help but watch.
Though she spent many years at home with her daughters, once they were grown, she went back to school to become a Real Estate agent. Joanne had a long and successful career in Real Estate starting out at Century 21 Bushnell and later at Coldwell Banker before retiring at 87 years old.
While she loved the art of finding families their homes what she loved even more was making a house a home. One of Joanne's greatest passions in life was interior design. She loved all forms of art and being creative, often taking local art classes, dabbling in primitive painting, velvet painting, crewel embroidery and much more. Many of her paintings can still be found in the homes of each of her daughters and grandchildren. Her favorite canvas, however, was her home. She was so talented that her Wethersfield home was once featured in the Hartford Courant as an Interior Design special with the Wethersfield House Tour.
If she wasn't designing her home, she was curating a flawless wardrobe, accessorized to the T and always dressed to the nines. Fashion was her passion and she spent every free moment bargain shopping. She was the original Tjmaxx-inista and a self-proclaimed professional shopper.
Aside from Frank, golf was the other love of her life. Highly competitive and very talented, she was a long-time member of the Connecticut Women's Golf Association as well as the Wethersfield Country Club, where she played thousands of rounds of golf and won many championships and awards. On any summer day she could be found playing 36 holes of golf and her daughters even laughingly remember her dragging them out to the Wethersfield Country Club to play the back nine after supper. She lived and breathed golf, playing it well into her 80s.
Joanne had a zest for life and everything she did she made sure she had fun while doing it! She was the life of the party; always making her friends and family laugh, often telling jokes and great stories and sometimes even performing acrobatics... her best party trick was doing the chest roll and was even known to do a headstand or two on the bar! One thing is for sure, she lived her life to the fullest every day!
At the age of 87, Joanne proudly retired from her long career in Real Estate and she and Frank moved to Palm City, Florida. She enjoyed Sunday dinners every week surrounded by grandchildren and great grandchildren, she danced at parties, she golfed a little and shopped a lot, and truly loved her retired life in sunny Florida. Joanne suffered a terrible stroke just before turning 91. Shortly after, she lost the love of her life Frank. What may have brought many women to quit, pushed Joanne to persevere. If there is one thing Joanne has always been, it is fierce, and the last five years of her life were certainly her most fierce chapter. Through loss and heartache, she still fought until the end, regaining strength, and teaching herself to walk and talk again. Her party wasn't over yet! So she stuck around and got to see two more grandchildren get married, she watched her grandchildren move across the county and start careers, she met three more great grandchildren and enjoyed many more Sunday dinners, pool days and holidays surrounded by her family. She remained the life of the party well into her nursing home days, often singing with her nurses and CNAS, telling inappropriate jokes, and just bringing so much life to an otherwise quiet place. Her friends at Waters Edge coined her Cece, and that name stuck until her final days.
Joanne was predeceased by her parents, siblings, many loving nieces and nephews, her beautiful daughter Joann and the love of her life, Frank.
She is survived by her daughter Christine Ardery and husband, Joseph Maggi, her daughter, Cathy Paulding and husband, Ray, and her youngest daughter, Bobbie Cecere. She is also survived by her cherished grandchildren; Scott Ardery and wife, Jenn, Casey Ferrara and husband, Lenny, Megan Paulding, Emily Gefke and husband Dylan, Raymond "Jamie" Paulding Jr. and wife Kristen, Trevor "Tre" Davis III, Parker Davis and her great grandchildren; Teagan, Reid, Marlaina and DJ. Fierce, fun, and fabulous. Beautiful, loving, and courageous. Independent, strong, and hardworking. These are all ways her family and friends would describe her, but above all, she would want to be remembered as a Patriot. She loved her country so much and can now rest peacefully with her beloved Marine, painting the heavens in Red, White and Blue.
There will be brief service and visitation on Saturday, February 11th , 2023 at Forest Hills Funeral Home in Palm City, Florida from 1pm to 3pm. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date in Connecticut in July. Rather than flowers, please donate to your local hospice as they are the kind souls who gave Joanne peace and comfort in her final days.