Jeannette Anne Wilcenski of Mattituck died Oct. 20, 2026, at East End Hospice Kanas Center. She was 90 years old.
Born June 9, 1936, in Peconic, she was the eldest of five children of Anna (Krupski) and Frank Cichanowicz Jr. She graduated from Southold High School and the College of New Rochelle School of Nursing. She began her nursing career at Central Suffolk Hospital in Riverhead (now Peconic Bay Medical Center), working in pediatrics and later as an operating room nurse. She also worked at San Simeon Nursing Home and provided private care with Dr. George Richards. She married John Wilcenski in 1959. Her family said she had many talents, especially cooking and baking, and enjoyed traveling, reading, sewing, crocheting, needlepoint, ceramics and painting. She celebrated her 90th birthday this summer with a family barbecue.
She was predeceased by her husband, John; her daughter, Deborah; her brother, Frank Cichanowicz III; and her sister, Lorraine Rauluk. She is survived by her children, Patricia, John Jr. and Donald; her siblings, Adelaide Dabrowski of Tampa, Florida, and David Cichanowicz of Southold; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends Friday, Nov. 6, from 4 to 7 p.m. at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck. The liturgy of Christian burial will be celebrated Saturday, Nov. 7, at 10:30 a.m. at Our Lady of Ostrabrama R.C. Church in Cutchogue, officiated by Father Dante Sabban. Interment will follow at Sacred Heart R.C. Cemetery, adjacent to the church.
