Mary Jane Cornelius Gelsomino

Published 1:31 pm Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Mary Jane Cornelius Gelsomino, 85, died Sunday, October 13, 2024, at Tryon Estates.

Born in Orange, NJ, she was the daughter of Eugene Sackett Cornelius and Helena (Wheeler) Cornelius (both deceased) and the sister of Virginia Garrison (deceased). As a teenager, Jane simultaneously attended Roxbury High School in Succasunna, NJ, and Stuart High School in Stuart, FL. 

She enjoyed spending her summers performing in acrobatic water skiing at Lake Hopatcong, NJ, and her winters in Stuart, FL, training her horse. Upon graduation, Jane was employed as a Legal Secretary with Crary and Crary in Stuart, FL, then, later, in San Francisco, CA, with Chickering & Gregory. She had added modeling to her portfolio in San Francisco when she met her husband, David de Steiguer (deceased). 

The couple moved to Sydney, Australia, in 1965 to establish a business and start a family. In 1972, Jane returned to the U.S. with her daughters and resumed working as a legal secretary in Palm Beach, FL. She was working with the office of William Lord, Attorney, when she met her second husband, Louis “Jerry” Gelsomino, and they were married in 1980. The couple lived in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, until the girls finished school and then moved to Bay St. Lucie in Port St. Lucie, FL, with the goal of retiring in the Carolinas. 

Following Jerry’s death in 1996, Jane moved to Keowee Key in Salem, SC and enjoyed kayaking and square dancing for many years. In 2012, Jane moved to Tryon Estates (NC), where she spent the remainder of her years surrounded by her beloved mountain views.

Jane is survived by two daughters, Lisa (de Steiguer) Jenkins and her husband Derrick of Jacksonville, FL, and Michelle (de Steiguer) Sattler and her husband Jason of South Salem, NY, and three stepsons, Terry Gelsomino and his wife Colleen of West Palm Beach, FL, Dennis

Gelsomino of Port St. Lucie, FL, and Thomas Gelsomino of Dania, FL. She has nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 2, at Peck & Peck Funeral Home in Pine Plains, NY, at 11 am. Burial will be at Evergreen Cemetery.

An online guest register is available at mcfarlandfuneralchapel.com.

McFarland Funeral Chapel

Tryon