Cecile Franceschino

Cecile Franceschino, 76, passed away peacefully among friends and family at St. Luke’s Warren Hospital on May 4, 2024.  Known to all as “Ceil”, she lived for years at 525 Fisher Avenue, worked as a server at Safety First Volunteer Fire Company, and was a devoted parishioner of Saint Philip and Saint James Catholic Church.  Ceil worked for many years at her family-owned establishment, the Club House Cafe on Broad Street in Phillipsburg, which she took over after her mom retired in 1984.

To her numerous friends, Ceil was one of the kindest and most giving people they ever knew.  She spent countless hours caring for friends, their elderly parents, and even their beloved pets.  Ceil was also dependable in providing transportation to many who needed it, whether that was for basic necessities, medical visits, or airplane flights.

A 1966 graduate of Phillipsburg Catholic High School, Ceil was a tremendous interscholastic athlete.  She went on to become a basketball official, played on summer league basketball teams, and competed for some twenty years in the Palmer Women’s Recreational Softball League.  Those who knew Ceil well also recall that she especially enjoyed two favorite pastimes: driving cars and playing games of chance.

Ceil was a member of the following local organizations: Avona Volunteer Fire Company, East Lawn Social Club, Palmer Township Fire Company, Palmer Volunteer Fire Company #2 of Wilson Borough, Safety First Volunteer Fire Company, Wilson Democratic Association, and Young Men’s Italian Association.

Ceil was the daughter of the late James and Helen Franceschino.  She is survived by her sister, Nancy Ference and her husband Michael, nephew James Ference and his partner Vicki Kulp, niece Joann (Ference) Attinello and her husband Joseph, grand niece Zoe Attinello, and grand nephews, Andrew Ference and his wife Breanna, Tyler Ference, and Hunter Attinello.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday May 8, 2024 beginning at 9:00 a.m. at Saint Philip and Saint James Catholic Church, 430 South Main Street, Phillipsburg, NJ with a Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 10:00 a.m.  Interment will be in the church cemetery at the intersection of U.S. Route 22 and County Route 519.

Ceil’s family asks that any contributions in her memory be made to Saint Philip and Saint James Catholic Church.