Jean Christina Donato, 95, of the Whiting section of Manchester Twp., passed away peacefully on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 at home surrounded by family. She was a homemaker who loved her family above all else. She loved to cook and provide for the family.
Born in Kaunas, Lithuania, she would experience the perils of World War II and in the midst of everything she would meet her future husband in Munich. She had come from Lithuania several years before when the Russians were conquering her homeland and she attempted to flee to Czechoslovakia with 100 other young women. In a beautiful love story...Tony met a lovely young girl named Jean who he discovered while she was living in Munich with friends she made while being forced to work in a Nazi munitions plant. Paid very little, fed little, but not miss treated by the Germans… fate had brought them together and they soon fell in love. They received special permission from General Patton for a wedding and on January 21, 1946 that the whole Battery attended. This made Jean one of the very first ‘war brides’. They were happily married for 62 years and made some amazing memories together!
She and her husband came to the USA in 1946 and resided in Jersey City & Kearny for many years. They moved to Whiting in 1992.
She is pre deceased by her husband of 62 years the late Anton Donato in 2007. Surviving are a daughter Diane, and a grandson Michael Zukowsky, his wife Katie and two great grandchildren, Alexa and Olivia.
