Anna Margaret (Sidor) Smela, 94, passed away, peacefully, on Friday, August 9, 2024, at Serenity Hospice at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in Hamilton, NJ.
Anna was born on Aug 2, 1930, in Shamokin, PA. She was proud to be called a coal miner’s daughter. At the age of 12, she moved to Newark, NJ with her parents and sister Mary. Anna graduated from East Side High School in 1949 and married Edward J. Smela in 1955. Anna was a bank teller at Fidelity, a bookkeeper, and most notably, a worker and later director of the Senior Citizens Center on Clifford Street in Newark. Mayor Sharpe James recognized Anna for her service to the Newark Office on Aging with a proclamation in 1998 that March 31 was Anna M. Smela Day!
nna also served her community as a member of the Rosary Society at St. Casimir’s Church, where she also volunteered to help run many of the church’s events and fundraisers. Anna was a girl scout leader and PTA member. Anna was devoted to her family, friends, and neighbors. She loved to bake during the holidays, and she would make several varieties of cookies that she would give to as many people as she could, most of whom looked forward to this annual gift.
She is survived by her devoted and loving daughters, Jean (William) Stroud, Teresa Barrett, and Maryann (Alfred) Timins; cherished grandmother of Adam, Matthew and Martin Stroud, Jonathan and Noelle Barrett, and Rebecca, Rachel and Robin Timins; great-grandmother of Ryan Stroud; also survived by 9 nieces and nephews; Anna is predeceased by her sister Mary (Harry) Onuskonych, and 2 nieces and nephews.
Relatives and friends are welcome to attend the wake and the funeral on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, from 8:30am -10:30am at the Buyus (Rucki-Bernauer) Funeral Home 426 Lafayette St., at Wilson Ave. Newark, NJ 07105. Thence to St. Casimir’s Church, Newark, where at 11am the Funeral Mass will be offered. Interment to follow at Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington, NJ.