Valeria T. (Jasenski) Sievel

Valeria Theresa Jasenski Sievel died peacefully on November 20, 2016 at Middlesex Memorial Hospital in Middletown after a short illness. She was born November 2, 1926 in Torrington to Felix and Mary Jasenski.

        Like many of her generation, she remembered fondly the closeness of extended family that lived together and supported each other during the Depression. She graduated from Torrington High School in 1944, when many classmates were already serving in World War II. She worked in the cost office of the Torrington Company until her 1948 marriage to the love of her life, Stanley Sievel. Stan always said he was smitten with Valeria when he saw her every Sunday at St. Mary’s Church, and when he played saxophone at her brother’s wedding, but he had to wait for her to grow up before he could court her. As their sons John, Tom, and Mark, and later daughter Lisa came along, they were immersed in family life, settling in the house that Stan built on Johnson Street. Family celebrations and holidays with extended family were the highlight of her life, and Christmas was never complete unless she had baked 12 kinds of cookies and decked the house with greenery she assembled.

        Through the years she worked as a bookkeeper for Trabees Clothing Store and for Scasco oil company. After Stan died in 1982, she began a career in banking with First Federal Bank, rising from teller to Customer Service Manager at the Litchfield office at was then Eagle Bank. She was always proud that she was the oldest and the best student in the banking courses she pursued.

        After enjoying annual vacations on her beloved Cape Cod for 24 years, she retired to East Harwich in 1993, where her house, Dream by the Sea, became the headquarters for extended summer and holiday visits from her children and grandchildren Lindsay and Alex. She delighted in the salt air, walking the beach, participating in devotions at Holy Trinity Church, and sharing all the special places she discovered on the Cape. For several years she worked as a Customer Service Representative at the Orleans office of Cape Cod Five Cent Savings Bank.

        She moved to Colchester in 2006, where she was a member of St. Andrew’s Church. She was an avid Red Sox fan and staunch Democrat, proudly casting her last ballot for the first woman presidential candidate. She continued cooking and baking her special holiday desserts until recent years, and loved nothing more than gathering her family around her table. She was grateful for so many exceptional neighbors, most especially Madelyn Starkey, who was an extraordinary friend and caregiver.

        Her family wishes to thank the staff and volunteers of the Middlesex Hospital Hospice unit, and the Middlesex Hospital Visiting Nurses, who always showed such compassion and warmth in their care giving.

        She was preceded in death by her husband of 34 years, Stanley Sievel, and by her brothers Edmund Jasenski, Chester Jasenski, and Henry Jasenski; her sisters Sophie Jasenski and Jennie Solywoda; and many beloved brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. She is survived by her sons John Sievel of Ashford (José); Rev. Thomas Sievel of East Haven; Mark Sievel of Newtown (Monica); and daughter Lisa Sievel-Otten (Robert) of Manassas, Va; granddaughter Lindsay Otten of Alexandria, Va.; grandson Alexander Otten of Manassas, Va.; her sister Tessie Melville of Torrington; and several nieces and nephews.

            Funeral services will be held Friday, November 25, 2016 at 11:30a.m. from Gleeson-Ryan Funeral Home, 258 Prospect St., Torrington, to St. Francis of Assisi Church, 160 Main St., Torrington, for a Mass of Christian Burial at 12:00p.m., celebrated by the Rev. Thomas A. Sievel. Burial will follow in New St. Francis Cemetery, Torrington. Friends may call Friday morning from 10:00 to 11:30a.m. at Gleeson-Ryan Funeral Home.

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