Jean Mary Smeriglio

Jean Mary Smeriglio age 74 of DeBary, FL died peacefully on June 25, 2014 after a courageous battle with cancer. Jeans life was centered around devotion and adoration of her family. She was predeceased by her brother Gordon Gall of Greenwich, CT. Jean was survived by her husband of 53 years David, her son David Jr. of Orange, CT and his wife Pam. Daughters; Debra Broderick of Brookfield, CT, Merriann Hammond of Sharon, CT & Rich, Susan Sokol of DeBary, FL and her husband John. She was a loving grandmother to Cheryl, Tiffany, Bubba, Richie, Louie, Danielle, Leann, Sarah and Abby. She was also survived by sister/brother-in-laws and many nieces and nephews. Jean was best known for her Sunday meatballs and her love for the Indian River where she enjoyed clamming.

A memorial service will be held Saturday July 12, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. at Deltona Memorial Funeral Home

“It broke our hearts to lose you, but you did not go alone.

As part of us went with you, the day god took you home.

If tears could build a stairway, and heartaches make a lane,

We’d walk our way to heaven, and bring you back again.

In life we loved you dearly; in death we love you still,

In our hearts you hold a place, no one could ever fill”

I would like to thank everyone for coming today to celebrate mom, some of you have traveled far and we really appreciate you being here. I'd especially like to thank Sue, John, the kids, and Dad for being there when times were extremely tough. You guys did a great job in making mom feel comfortable and putting this service together.

It may be difficult to put into words how I feel about my mother, but I'll try. Some of you know her by Jean, Jeanie, Jeanie babes, even mean Jean the dancing machine, but for our family we know her as Grandma and Mom. Jean was born on

April 12th 1940 in Norwalk Ct to Gordon & Clara Gall. She had a younger brother, Gordon, who she had lost contact with for several years, but was able to reconnect with recently about a year ago before his passing. I believe she was truly glad that she was able to talk with her brother and enjoyed the short time they both had together. Mom didn't have the greatest childhood, but when she met Dad, moving to Brookfield in 1962, she knew that starting a family meant making sure our upbringing was filled with love and happy memories. Mom had her hands full raising 3 girls, Debbie, Merrianne, Susie, and 1 boy me. I couldn't fathom having 4 kids, working, cooking and cleaning, having just 2 kids is tough enough. Most days Mom would get us ready for school, go to work cleaning houses, pick anyone of us up from school or sport activities, then come home, make dinner, do clothes, get us ready for bed and do it all over again. And there is no doubt that Mom did the majority of the driving. Other parents would have excuses or didn't want to pick us up in the snow, but Mom was always there. She was truly an amazing woman. Mom had such determination, an incredible work ethic and toughness. I have to thank her for passing those traits on to us. Jean was known for being sweet, happy and always willing to lend a hand. She was also an extremely strong person so it was difficult to see her body breakdown in the end. YES TOUGH and STRONG there wasn't too many people that would challenge Mom and she had the best seat belt arm in the business. ( ) Always protecting us.

She also supported Dad whether it was helping at the radiator shop, making deliveries, or sitting in the fourth turn at the Danbury races. She was a focal point of the #9 fans. Everyone was welcomed to come with us on Saturday nights and

scream with Mom as Dad raced by. Those were some great memories. Of course there is no way I can stand up here without mentioning those famous meatballs! Some of you might be scratching your heads thinking why is he talking

about meatballs. Just take a look around and you may see smiles on people who experienced these incredible meatballs. McDonalds mentions how many people they served well Jean's meatballs served over 9 billion. It didn't matter if Tony Poti stopped by on a Sunday to say hi, or Jimmy and Hillary would come by for a Patriots game, they knew Sunday was Jeanie's meatball day. No one could pass them up, I even had a close friend beg Mom to freeze them and send them to California on dry ice. Mom said "No Way"! They just will not be the same. She took great pride perfecting the recipe which none of us could ever duplicate. It was always a pinch of this and a pinch of that. A true signature and legacy of MOM.

Mom also loved her grandkids like no other grandma. She has 9 in total, Cheryl, Tiffany, Bubba, Richie, Louie, Danielle, Leann, Sarah, and Abby. She was so supportive and willing to talk anytime even if one of them, Abby, would ask the

same question over and over. She would never hang up on Abby although Abby would ask "where is scooter" about 20 times. Over the years she took an interest in their favorite sport or hobby and always showed her love for them. They will

truly miss you mom.

I have one last thing to say to mom, Thank you for everything you did for us and being a big part our lives. Mom, thank you for passing on those beautiful blue eyes to many of your grandkids, we see a part of you every time we look into their eyes.

I want to tell you that I am proud to be your son and proud that you were my mom.

Written by her son Dave Smeriglio Jr.