She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer after she was hospitalized three weeks before her death, said her sister, Betty Sullivan.
Born in the Village in 1920, she was one of four children of Carmine Sbailo, who emigrated from Naples, Italy, and Rachel Capozzi Sbailo, a Village native.
She was married to Joseph Silvano in 1963 at Our Lady of Pompei Church. Her husband, a Village native who worked for the U.S. Postal Service, was best known as a school crossing guard in the Sixth Police Precinct where he served for many years until he died in 1996.
“Jean was very active at Our Lady of Pompei and she became a kind of housemother for all the other tenants at 51 W. Eighth St. — if anything went wrong, she was the one who went to the landlord,” said her sister, Betty.
In addition to Betty Sullivan, of Lake Ariel, Pa., two other sisters survive, Rose Antonello, of the Village, and Gloria Caffiero, of Iselin, N.J. Several nieces and nephews also survive. A brother, John Sbailo, died in 2002.
Rumpf Funeral Home of Carteret, N.J., was in charge of arrangements. A Mass of Christian burial was to be held Wed., Jan. 26, at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Carteret and entombment at Woodbridge Memorial Gardens, Woodbridge, N.J.
