Obituary of Anna Gervasio Scalise

Anna Gervasio Scalise, 83, of 336 W. Elm Street Titusville, passed away Thursday evening July 4, 2013 at Oakwood Heights in Oil City where she had been a resident since Dec. 14, 2012. Anna Gervasio Scalise was born August 21, 1929, in Naples, Italy, one of four daughters born to Raffaele and Giussepina DiNapoli Gervasio. During World War II, in her early teens, she experienced the German occupation of her native city. After the Allied forces entered Naples she met an American serviceman stationed there, Albert Scalise, whom she married in March of 1945, at age fifteen. In May of 1946, she joined a group of war brides aboard a Red Cross ship being brought to America to join their husbands. But, she left behind her Italian family, which she always sorely missed. She carried with her to America, and to her husband, their infant of two months, Roberto. In 1956 she made the first of her many return trips to Italy to be with her family, which included her mother who passed away in 2005 at the age of 103. Anna raised four children, Robert, Madalena, Mark, and Diana (who died in 1958 at age four of brain cancer). She became a resident of Titusville in 1955, living at the corner of Elm and Monroe for the last 58 years, where she also maintained a beauty shop for many years. Her three surviving children, Robert, Madalena and Mark, grew up in Titusville. Her husband Albert passed away in 1994 after working for Cyclops for twenty years. Anna was a gifted cook, and her family and friends staunchly maintain that her spaghetti sauce was better than any to be found in any Italian restaurant in the world. She was a talented hobbyist, creating beautiful ceramics and quilts. In recent years she was blessed with a romantic “December” relationship for five years with Bert Slother, who gave her love, kindness and companionship that she treasured until his passing several years ago. More than ten years ago she was a breast cancer survivor, but finally succumbed to bone cancer after an extended period. She is survived by her son Robert and his wife Jennifer and their two sons Michael and Roberto of Dunkirk, Maryland; her son Mark and his wife Angela and their two daughters Carina and Alexa, of Baldwinsville, New York; her daughter Madalena Wilcox, of Mesquite, Nevada. Grandchildren: Christy Wilcox, of Redondo Beach, California, and Dr. David Wilcox and wife, Crista, of Missoula, Montana, and Robert Scalise of Tacoma,Washington; great grandchildren, Samantha Scalise and Ashten Wilcox, and newborn, Bridger Wilcox. In Italy, she is survived by two sisters, Rita and Rosaria, and more than a dozen nieces and nephews. Her former son-in- law, George Wilcox, and her lifelong friend, Lucia Foley, also join the family and friends who mourn Anna’s passing. Her cremated remains will be taken to her beloved Naples. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 AM Saturday August 10, 2013 at St. Titus Church with Fr. Walter E. Packard as celebrant.