Mary Jane (King) Sivo

Mary Jane (King) Sivo, 78, of Ash St., Stoney Brook Circle, Orangeville passed away on Thursday, April 25, at The Gardens in Millville where she was a patient.

Born in Long Beach, California on June 19, 1945, she was the second daughter born to John J. and Marjorie H. (Woodruff) King.

She grew up in the Panama Canal Zone, Vallejo, California, Jacksonville, Florida and last in Sewell, New Jersey where she lived while her father finished his Naval career while serving at the Philadelphia Naval Base.

Mary Jane moved to Benton in 1956 when her parents purchased a home on part of the McHenry Whiskey land. For the next seven years she was a farmer’s daughter. She was a 1963 graduate of Benton High School where she served as secretary of her class. After her first marriage in 1963 she became an Army wife, living in Virginia Beach, Virginia for one year and in Hanu, Germany for two years. She returned to Benton and spent the rest of her life in the Benton area, moving to Stoney Brook Circle in 2012.

She worked at the former Milco, Industries plant in Benton for 12 years and later at the former Columbia County Farmer’s National Bank in Benton for two years. She was an active member of the Benton Fire Co. for many years and served as an EMT for six years

On July 19, 1985 she married Giovanni A. “John” Sivo and would have observed their 39^th wedding anniversary in July. They traveled extensively throughout the United States for a number of years.

Mary Jane grew up sewing and making her own clothes. She did mending and alterations in her home for years. Later she learned to quilt and made many quilts for family and friends. She loved to read books, do counted cross stitch and make jigsaw puzzles. She was a member of TOPS #767 of Benton, serving as leader, secretary and treasurer over the years.

Surviving in addition to her husband are her three sons: Douglas A. Hess and his wife Denise of Millville; Brian J. Hess and his wife Marita of Benton; Randall S. Hess and his wife Vicki of Orangeville; six grandchildren. Her greatest joy was her four grandsons.

Also surviving is her sister, M. Joanne Heimbach, a guest at The Gardens at Millville; a nephew Kirk L. Hess and his wife Inez of Benton; four step children: Linda Lee Peters of Glendale, Arizona; John A. Sivo and his wife Denise of Salt Lake City, Utah; Chrysti Lee, wife of James Duffin of Ono Valley, Arizona; Teresa Ann, wife of Danny Mattingly of Tucson, Arizona; six step-grandchildren and three step-great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, at 2 p. m., in the Dean W. Kriner, Inc., Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 325 Market Street, Bloomsburg, with Rev. Gordon E. Smith, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church, Espy officiating. Interment will follow in St. Gabriel’s Cemetery, Sugarloaf Township. Viewing on Tuesday from 6-8 p. m. or after 1 p. m. on Wednesday.