Jeanne Lanzavecchia

Little Silver, NJ. Jeanne Rose (Foti) Lanzavecchia passed away peacefully at home with her family by her side on 3/8/2021. She was born in Englewood, NJ, on 03/19/1929. Jeanne grew up in Englewood, and graduated from St. Cecilia’s High School in Englewood, NJ, where she served as a student volunteer to the school’s up-and-coming football coach, Vince Lombardi. Jeanne met her husband Peter, her next-door neighbor and friend of her brother, and they were married in June 1950. They lived in Demarest, NJ for 8 years, then in 1958 moved to Point Pleasant, NJ, where they raised their three children. Jeanne was a devout Catholic, a strong believer in the power of prayer, and was always quick to proudly mention that she was born on the Feast of St. Joseph. She was a member of St. Martha’s R.C. Church in Point Pleasant, then The Church of the Nativity in Fair Haven. After the passing of her husband in 1972, Jeanne entered the workplace and began her career in the Point Pleasant Board of Education office, eventually becoming Secretary to the Board of Education. Jeanne then transferred to the school library where she found great joy working with children, and reluctantly retired at age 70. At the urging of her best friend Joan Kull, Jeanne became a member of the Brick Township Women’s Club. Recognized for her financial skills and love for managing budgets, Jeanne served as Treasurer of the Women’s Club for over 15 years. Jeanne and Joan shared many interests and activities, including walking the boardwalk and attending Father Alphonse’s concerts on Point Pleasant beach. With a love of music and especially Italian singers, Jeanne often reminisced about attending a Frank Sinatra concert in Philadelphia and was quite certain that Frank “blew her a kiss” at the concert’s conclusion. Another story that Jeanne enjoyed telling was her private, back-stage introduction to Tony Bennett after his concert in Atlantic City, where it is reported that she gave Tony a kiss in violation of meet-and-greet rules. In 2008, Jeanne sold her family home and moved to her current home in Little Silver, NJ, to be near her daughter, Patty, and her family. She quickly became the center of many rummy tile tournaments with a new set of friends and neighbors. Jeanne was especially well-known for her cooking, particularly Italian soups and specialties. She loved to share recipes with her friends and family, and took great joy seeing many of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren take an interest in cooking. Many of Jeanne’s favorite recipes are found in the “Foti Family Cookbook”, and are often prepared by the family. Another of Jeanne’s passions was gardening, and she was especially proud of the rose gardens at her home in Point Pleasant and her Christmas cactus collection in Little Silver. Jeanne was blessed to receive most loving care from her family and especially live-in caregiver, Anna Smoller, for the last two years. Jeanne was predeceased by her parents Antonio and Caterina Foti, her husband Peter, and her siblings Lena (Foti) Wilson, John, Phillip, Frank, Peter, and Dominic Foti. Survived by her loving family, daughter Patricia Turchyn (Joseph), sons Peter Lanzavecchia (Susan), and Michael Lanzavecchia (Kate), eight grandchildren Leigh Anne Levito (Anthony), Lauren Jeanne Turchyn, Keri Lanzavecchia, Kristen Lanzavecchia, Michael Lanzavecchia Jr, Matthew (Bailey) Lanzavecchia, Dempsey Lanzavecchia, Kenzi Lanzavecchia, and six great-grandchildren, Haley Lanzavecchia, Mairin Munson, Bridget Munson, Delaney Munson, Reece Munson, and Logan Turchyn-Strasser. They were the love of her life. Memorial Funeral Mass and Burial arrangements will be made at a later date.