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Sylvia Tanacea Belba
Sylvia Tanacea Belba, 90 resident of San Jose, CA passed away peacefully on October 14, 2014 surrounded by her loved ones. Sylvia was born in North Grosvenordale, CT on January 24, 1924 the oldest of 7 children.
She is survived by her daughter, Linda Jane, son-in-law Adam Gonzalez and grandson Eric William Gonzalez, all of San Jose. She is also survived by her brother, Thomas Tanacea (Loretta) of San Francisco, CA; sisters Loretta Bici (George) of Garden City, NY, Virginia Giavara (Sutiri) of Stratford, CT and Judith Kavulich (Jack) of Bentonville, AK. She also has many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband, John Peter Belba, her parents, Vasil and Doxia (Vanghel) Tanacea, an older sister Chrysafia and 2 brothers Spiro and Vanghel.
Sylvia loved to meet people and share her life stories and because of that she worked at various jobs that involved meeting the public until she was 85 years old. Sylvia knew no strangers. Sylvia lived in North Grosvenordale CT from birth until she married her beloved Johnnie on June 15, 1947. That is when she moved to Southbridge MA and lived with her in-laws. Her greatest joy was the birth of her daughter Linda 4 years later. The family then moved to Bridgeport in 1961 when her husband got a job at Sikorsky Aircraft. They later moved to Fairfield CT in 1971 and finally San Jose CA in 1981 to live near their daughter and son-in-law. When her grandson Eric was born in 1984 she cherished being his full time baby sitter. Sylvia was a devout Orthodox Christian.
She enjoyed being a member of many religious organizations including St. Michael’s Romanian church, Andrei Baron de Shaguna Ladies Society in Southbridge, MA. The Romanian Benevolent Society ( Farsarotul). She was also a member of St. Dimitrie Romanian Orthodox church in Bridgeport, CT, sang soprano in the church choir for many years and was also active in the Ladies Auxiliary. When moving to San Jose, CA she was a communicant of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, a member of the Philoptochos Society and the Daughters of Penelope.
One of the highlights of her life was a church sponsored trip to the Holy Land in 1989. Another very special trip was to Albania and northern Greece which was the home of her and her husband’s ancestors. Sylvia was also an active 55 year member of the Order of the Eastern Star. She was initiated in Massachusetts in 1959. She affiliated with Santa Clara Chapter #195 and Willow Glen Chapter #530 in 1981. She was Worthy Matron of Willow Glen Chapter in 1984 and Worthy Matron of Santa Clara Chapter in 1988. She served as star points Electa and Ruth many times. She also served as Chaplain, Marshall and Warder. She was the Grand Representative of Connecticut in California from 2003 to 2005. She always loved to crochet and was proud of the fact that she made afghans for all her nieces and nephews and other family and friends. When her husband died in 1986, she began to travel the world and continued to do so into her mid 80’s. She occupied the rest of her retirement playing pinochle and rummicube.
She was a member of the Evergreen Senior Center and also sang in their choir. Her favorite song to sing was ‘Oh Johnny’ which was a testament of the love she had for her husband. Visitation will be held at Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel, 710 Willow Street, San Jose on Monday October 20th beginning 4:30pm. An O.E.S service will be held at 6pm and the Trisagion service will be held at 7pm. The funeral will be held on Tuesday October 21st at 10am at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 1260 Davis Street, San Jose followed by burial at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 1260 Davis Street, San Jose building fund.
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elissa mondschein.
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