Lee Jilk (née Pasqualina “Lena” Marie Conte), 94, of Savannah, Georgia, passed away on November 3, 2021. She was the last surviving sibling of the Joseph and Mary Conte family of Brooklyn, New York, and is survived by her son David Jilk, Jr. of Boulder, Colorado; grandsons D. Joseph Jilk III of Atlanta, Georgia and Thomas G. Jilk of Madison, Wisconsin; one great-grandson Josué of Granada, Nicaragua; the mother of her grandsons Nancy Arteberry of Savannah, and her nieces and nephews Jacqueline Boege of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, Peter Raineri of Lake Worth, Florida, Gary Listort and Glenn LIstort of Orlando, Florida, Maryanne Savignano of Danbury, Connecticut, Diana Meaney of Middle Village, New York, Janice Razza of Readington Township, New Jersey; and many great-nephews and -nieces.
Lee was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 18, 1927. She graduated from Bushwick High School in Brooklyn in June, 1944. She worked as a teller and later a manager at the Williamsburg Savings Bank until she married David Jilk (Sr.), a Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, in 1961. Their son was born in 1962 and she dedicated the next decade to being a mother and homemaker. In 1973 the family moved to Winona, Minnesota, where Lee worked as a bookkeeper for the Winona County Highway Department. Lee and Dave divorced in 1982, whereupon she moved to West Hempstead, New York to live with and care for her ailing sister. There she continued her career as a bookkeeper until retiring in the early 1990s. In retirement she lived in Massachusetts and then Savannah to be near and help care for her grandsons.
Lee loved babies and young children above all, barely containing her excitement when children visited, and adorning her residence with photographs of her grandsons and great-nieces and nephews. She was a devoted and involved grandmother, known as "Nanny" to her grandsons and their friends, girlfriends, and partners, even now.
Lee had a strong Italian mother’s hostess instinct, always showering guests with food and drink, and directing the conversation toward the guests’ lives and interests. She acquired many friends of all colors and creeds wherever she lived, and they universally describe her as one of the most caring and giving people they know. She often assumed the burden of worrying about the health or difficulties of her family and friends and always went out of her way to help if she could, or to give unvarnished advice if needed. Despite her compassionate nature, she could also be as tough as nails: in her mid-80s she fought off a mugger with her umbrella, and at age 90 she weathered a successful hemicolectomy. Lee was a loving and colorful woman who will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
In lieu of flowers or other tributes, the family requests donations to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, a condition from which Lee suffered and to which she lost a sister and a nephew.
https://impact.ccalliance.org/fundraiser/3575608
