Mary Jo Abate

July 13, 1927 - November 10, 2020

Mary Josephine Abate, of Toms River New Jersey, passed away on Tuesday November 10, 2020 at the age of 93 after her battle with COVID. She was born July 13, 1927 In Newark New Jersey. She attended East Side High School in Newark New Jersey and was a member of the National Honor Society. In 1951, she married the late Sam ( Cosimo) Abate and had two children, Dr. Gerard Abate, and Donna Sobkowich. Prior to her children she had a career in banking and continued in that field part time when her children were in school. Later on she worked for Hillside High School where she started as a librarian assistant and then transitioned to the school attendance officer. They then retired to Holiday City Silverton in Toms River where Mary Jo became active in her community and served as both a board member and president of the homeowners association. She was also president of the Holiday City Woman's Club and Social Club. She loved to run trips for the residents and more so for the social club functions where she would produce their frequent shows at their club house as well as run the many functions for the residents. She was preceded in death by her husband, Sam ( Cosimo Abate), parents Rose and Frank Mirandi, sister Celeste Gennaro. She leaves two children, Dr. Gerard Abate and his wife Lynda, of Palm Coast Florida and her daughter Donna Sobkowich and her husband Chris;of Santa Clarita CA; her sister Florence Cacicedo and brother Vincent Mirandi. She also leaves four grandchildren : Gerard Abate Jr, Andrew Abate, Michael Abate, Anthony (AJ) Abate and two great grandsons: Cosimo and Adrien Abate Visiting will be Monday 4:00pm to 8:00pm at the Silverton Memorial Funeral Home 2482 Church Rd., Toms River. A Mass of a Christian Burial will be offered on Tuesday 9:15am at St. Luke’s RC Church, 1674 Old Freehold Road, Toms River, NJ. Entombment will follow at Ocean County Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers Mary Jo would appreciate donations to her favorite charity, St. Jude Children's Hospital. https://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/GiftFunds/GiftFunds?px=6850360&pg=personal&fr_id=39300&fbclid=IwAR3ok0H7TEDJ4z91gSFc_rD8E-PuKFMaKLN54eEXp6guok7fBLqb9ZaaRns