Johanna Siderko, 96, of Spring Lake Heights, passed away on Saturday, April 19, 2014, in the comfort of her family, after a brief illness, at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune. For the previous two years she enjoyed residency in The Wexford at Wall Township. Prior to that, she lived in Spring Lake Heights for thirty years, and Newark and Belleville for another combined thirty years.
Johanna graciously volunteered her time serving meals to the needy in Belmar, and calling bingo for many years at a Spring Lake Heights rest home. Professionally, she shared her teaching talents as a typing instructor and love for reading as a librarian assistant. She was also a secretary at Rutgers University School of Pharmacy, Newark, and the Police Training Commission, also Newark. She always said her favorite job outside the home was at the Internal Revenue Service in Philadelphia, where as a young lady she would calm people down, nervous about being called in for an audit.
She was very self-sufficient and led a very full life with very few obstacles or sorrows. God blessed her with the joy of motherhood. She was a parishioner of St. Margaret’s R.C. Church, Spring Lake.
Johanna, the oldest of four sisters, was born to Virgil and Anna Novajosky, in Scranton, Pa. She was a graduate of Tech High School in Scranton. She subsequently moved to Philadelphia and eventually made her way to Kearny, N.J., where she met her husband, Peter, on a blind date. In raising her family she was very involved in her son’s schools, St. Michael’s Grammar School and Essex Catholic High School, both in Newark.
Johanna was predeceased by her sisters, Anne, Marguerite and Bernadine (“Birdie”), and her beloved husband, Peter, in 1983. She is immediately survived by her loving son, Richard Siderko, and daughter-in-law, Kathleen Siderko (Murphy), of Brielle, N.J., and two grandchildren, Erin Siderko, of Sydney, Australia, and Alison Siderko, of Brielle. She is additionally survived by many nieces and nephews.
Visitation will take place at O’Brien Funeral Home, 2028 Hwy. 35, Wall, N.J., on Tuesday, April 22, 2014, from 3-7 P.M.. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Mark’s R.C. Church, Sea Girt, on Wednesday, April 23, 2014, at 9:30 A.M., followed by interment at St. Catharine’s Cemetery, Sea Girt.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made in Johanna’s memory to The Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, 3300 Rt. 66, Neptune, N.J. 07753, or www.foodbankmoc.org. For further information or to send condolences, please visit www.obrienfuneralhome.com.