Aunt Jo was a very large part of our lives. She was my mother‘s closest sister in age out of 10 children. They continued their close relationship into adulthood. She was my mother‘s made of honor, and my sister‘s godmother and ever present in our lives.

My early memories are from pictures my mother had in a box. Aunt Jo was always there. I remember a picture of me standing in a highchair and I was told stories about my mother getting angry, and my aunt diffusing the situation. She was my one of biggest ally only second to my sister.

On my third birthday during a joint party with my cousin Lesley, I scratched my head on the swing set well on the teeter totter. Aunt Joe was the first one to my rescue, grabbed a wet washcloth and put it on my bleeding head and she was by my mother’s side. While I receive stitches, then we returned home for cake, ice cream, and presents.

 Aunt Jo almost always went out of her way on snowy days to pick us up because we were not bus to school. And she wasn’t about to let her goddaughter walk a mile through piles of snow. 

Saint Nicholas day was a big thing in our family. So aunt Joe would come early and put our stockings between the screen door and the front door so that when she came to get us for school, she could also look surprised when we open the door. Thinking we weren’t wise to her being Saint Nick. We caught on at some point one year. We heard her placing the stockings between the doors. 

Aunt Jo stays single for most of her early adult life. She eventually owned her own little market, not very far from our house. And that is how she met her husband, the milkman. Uncle Ted was older and already had three children and multiple grandchildren. The only way he would marry aunt Jo is if his mother could live with them he was Greek, and this was the tradition. 

Ya Ya was a feisty old lady  who only spoke Greek.  And meals at aunt Joe‘s house got very interesting. On Easter Yaya had to buy a whole lamb so each year I took apart of

Visitation

Funeral Service

Committal

Blake-Lamb Funeral Home

Josephine Cannata

immediate need

Death has occurred or is near

plan ahead

Pre-plan a funeral or cremation

Plan a Funeral or Cremation Default Desktop

Find Obituaries and Services

Send Flowers

sympathy and etiquette

grief library

celebrations of life

What to Say When Someone Dies

Show Your Support

Sympathy and Grief

obituary

services

memories

Obit Detail

In the care of

share to facebook

share by email

share link

Share Obituary

ideas and resources

Sympathy and Grief Mobile

OBITUARY

Josephine Cannata

March 16, 1927 – June 10, 2025

Blake-Lamb Funeral Home

Show your support

Add a Memory

Share Obituary

Get Reminders

Services