Giovanna Tisellano

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Giovanna Tisellano, 83, of Rossville, a retired city school aide who possessed an off-beat sense of humor, died Monday in Staten Island University Hospital, Prince's Bay.

Born Giovanna Valentino in Belmonte Mezzagno, Sicily, Italy, she immigrated to the United States in 1954, moving to Manhattan. She relocated to Brooklyn in 1964 and settled in Rossville in 2007.

Mrs. Tisellano was an aide for the city Department of Education in its social services office in Brooklyn.

She was a member of the Belmonte Mezzagno Social Club, Brooklyn, and enjoyed going to the Friendship Club at Mount Loretto.

Mrs. Tisellano was a talented knitter and made baby blankets for family, friends and neighbors who were expecting children. She also enjoyed listening to classic Italian music.

She was a great cook, her family said, and loved to host family dinners for the holidays. All those at her table enjoyed her meals and company, they added.

Mrs. Tisellano was a parishioner of St. Joseph-St. Thomas R.C. Parish, Pleasant Plains.

Her husband of 55 years, Giulio, died in 2009.

Surviving are her sons, Vincent, Frank and Andrew; her sisters, Rosa and Sabastiana Franciamore and four grandchildren.

The funeral will be Thursday from the Casey McCallum Rice South Shore Funeral Home, Great Kills, with a mass at 10:30 a.m. in St. Thomas the Apostle R.C. Church, Pleasant Plains. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.