Katherine Sica

Katherine always found her greatest pleasure in making others happy, whether by helping out a friend or a stranger. Over the years she dedicated many, many hours to the Guild of St. Mary’s Hospital in Passaic, serving as a fundraiser and patient advocate. Any time, day or night, she was always there for the people she loved.

Whether it meant driving through traffic, battling stormy weather, or racing to the hospital in the wee hours, she’d drop everything to help out a family member or friend. If you were telling her about your problems and she seemed to cut you off abruptly, it was probably because she was jumping in the car to come help you and didn’t want to argue about it.

Born in New York City and raised in Barcelona, Katherine met her future husband Valentino Vincent Sica, a recently returned WWII veteran, when, after graduating as a pianist from the New York College of Music, she attended Bergen Junior College (now Fairleigh Dickinson University) with the intention of becoming a music teacher. Though playing the piano, whether in public recitals or in private for friends, would always remain one of her greatest passions, plans changed for Katherine, and following her graduation, she became assistant to the vice president at the Union Dime Bank in Manhattan. Multilingual and outgoing, she relished the opportunity to interact with foreign clients.

After her marriage, Katherine moved to Rochelle Park, New Jersey, where her husband set up his medical practice and the couple lived for almost forty years before retiring to Sparta twenty-eight years ago. Katherine loved being around people. In addition to her volunteer work, she entertained often. Doing all the preparation and cooking herself, she was often rushing until the moment her guests arrived. Still, she was ever gracious, and even from the other end of the house, it was easy to tell when the vivacious hostess entered the room. That’s when the party started.

Katherine and Valentino had two sons, Philip and Thomas, in addition to their two daughters who survive them: Valerie Trainor, who lives West Milford with her husband Douglas, and Paula Sica-Scripsick, who also lives in New Jersey along with her husband Michael and their daughters Amalia and Luisa, the teenage grandchildren Katherine adored. They and her many cherished cousins and long-time friends will dearly miss her affectionate and caring nature, her cheerfulness, her generosity, and her strength.

Katherine was always optimistic and an excellent cheerer-upper. Surely she would share with them the words that got her through so many difficult times during her long life: “No hay mal que por bien no venga,” roughly meaning “there is no bad that some good doesn’t come of it.” She believed that, and she could make you believe it, too.

A private service for Katherine was held with immediate family members only. A celebration of Katherine’s life will take place at a later date. Online condolences can be made on Goble Funeral Home’s website: www.goblefuneral.com. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania: www.lvc.edu/give. (Select “Other” as the fund. Please note that gifts are to the Sica Scholarship Fund in memory of Katherine Sica.)