Madonna’s stepmother, Joan Ciccone, passed away earlier this week on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, at the age of 81, following a battle with aggressive cancer. Joan was married to Madonna’s father, Silvio Ciccone, for over 50 years.
As reported by The New York Post, the online obituary stated:
“Joan Clare Ciccone passed away peacefully early in the morning of September 24th, 2024, after a brief encounter with a very aggressive cancer. She will be terribly missed by her family and friends whose lives she enriched with her enthusiasm, joy, and love.”
The couple tied the knot in 1966 when the pop icon was just 8 years old, approximately three years after her mother’s passing in 1963 at the young age of 30.
Silvio, now 93 years old, married Joan, who previously worked as a housekeeper. Prior to their marriage, he had six children with his late wife: Anthony, Martin, Madonna, Paula, Christopher, and Melanie. Silvio and Joan later welcomed two more children: Mario and Jennifer.
Born in 1931 in Pennsylvania, Silvio is the youngest of six sons. Back in 1985, Madonna shared with TIME magazine that her father’s family emigrated from Italy to the US on a boat. She further elaborated that Silvio’s parents settled near Pittsburgh, where his father began working in a steel mill.
Silvio Ciccone: A Legacy of Service and Family
As previously mentioned, Joan and Silvio enjoyed a long marriage. Silvio served in the Air Force and later moved to Michigan, where he became an engineer. During her interview with TIME, Madonna revealed:
“I think he wanted us to have a better life than he did when he was growing up.”
In the same interview, Madonna also discussed her grandparents and Silvio’s parents, noting that they didn’t speak English and had limited education. She commented:
“I think in a way they represented an old lifestyle that my father really didn’t want to have anything to do with. It’s not that he was ashamed, really, but he wanted to be better.”
Raised in a Catholic household, Silvio met Joan while serving in the Air Force, and according to Madonna, it was love at first sight. She stated about her parents:
“Of course he met my mother, and he fell in love with her immediately. She was very beautiful. I look like her. I have my father’s eyes but I have my mother’s smile and a lot of her facial structure.”
Silvio and his wife eventually moved to Detroit, where Madonna and her siblings were raised. Although the pop superstar initially pursued a degree at the University of Michigan, she later relocated to New York City to follow her passion for dance.
This June, Silvio celebrated his 93rd birthday, and Madonna took to Instagram to express her love with a heartfelt post and shared several photos.
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