Janith Helen Curran of Ewing, New Jersey died Tuesday at the age of 82 from a myocardial infarction following hip replacement surgery earlier in the day.
Jan Cellura was born in Dunkirk, NY on August 9th, 1940. She graduated from SUNY Albany in 1962. She taught English at East High School Rochester, NY alongside her dear friend, Kay Curran, who introduced Jan to her future husband, Ernie, Kay's brother. Jan and Ernie were married on August 20th, 1966. All four of their children were born in Rochester, where they lived until they relocated to Pennington for Ernie's job in 1977.
Jan was a member of St. James Church in Pennington. For over 40 years she faithfully served patrons at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, where she shared her passion for giving and service with her four children, and her eight grandchildren as well, bringing them with her to the soup kitchen starting at a young age and continuing to do so as they grew.
Jan was an avid tennis player and in her later years enjoyed golfing on the women's team at Trenton Country Club as well as with her husband. She also much enjoyed playing Bridge with her friends, including duplicate games. She explored faraway places like Australia, Europe, Hawaii, and her ancestral home of Sicily.
Jan is survived by her husband, Ernie, her daughters Christa (Edward O'Mara), Beth (Leonard Sbordone), Benita (David Wittenborn); and her son Matthew (Jane); eight grandchildren: Lauren Chase, Julia, and Colin O'Mara of Bel Air, MD, Emily, Jessica, and Troy Curran of Cranbury, NJ, Luke and Sophia Wittenborn of Pennington, NJ, and one brother, Joseph Edward Cellura (Suzanne) of San Jose, CA.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 on Saturday, August 13th at St. James Church, 115 East Delaware Avenue, Pennington, NJ 08534. Calling Hours will be at St. James Church on Friday evening, August 12th from 5:00-7:00, and again on Saturday morning from 10:00-10:30.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, 72 ½ Escher Street, Trenton, NJ 08609 or St. James Church.