Jack L. Proscia

In Loving Memory of Jack Luke Proscia

“A good name is better than good oil, and the day of death is better than the day of birth.” — Ecclesiastes 7:1

Jack Luke Proscia, 85, of Montour Falls, New York, passed away peacefully and unexpectedly on Friday, August 21, 2026, after a life marked by perseverance, faith, personal growth, and an enduring love for his wife of more than 54 years, Anamari.

Jack was born May 7, 1941, in New York City, the son of Jack Proscia Sr., of Italian descent, and Elizabeth Proscia (Riegle), of Austrian descent. His childhood was a difficult one, and his early years took him down a troubled path. Yet the circumstances into which Jack was born would not ultimately define the man he became.

As a young man, Jack was introduced to the Bible and the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses through his maternal grandmother, Florence Riegle. Initially skeptical and even openly resistant to her beliefs, Jack eventually came to embrace for himself the faith she had patiently shared with him. He dedicated his life to Jehovah God and was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, beginning a spiritual journey that would continue for the remainder of his life.

That journey did not change Jack overnight. His was a transformation measured not in a single moment, but across decades. Through faith, self-examination, repentance, perseverance, and the loving influence of others, Jack continued striving to become a better husband, father, grandfather, friend, and Christian. Those who knew him over the course of his life had the opportunity to witness that growth.

On May 27, 1972, Jack married Anamari at a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Ridgewood, New York. With that marriage, Jack also became stepfather to Anamari's eight-year-old son, Joshua.

In October 1976, the family left New York City for Trumansburg, New York, exchanging the noise and congestion of the city for a farmhouse surrounded by 45 acres of corn, wheat, oats, alfalfa, and barley. Jack loved the greater peace, natural beauty, and relative tranquility of life in the Finger Lakes region.

Jack's early educational difficulties left him without a traditional high school diploma, but they did not prevent him from making something of himself. He later earned his high school equivalency diploma and turned his knowledge and experience in professional cleaning and housekeeping into a successful career in management. He served as Director of Housekeeping at the Radisson Hotel in Corning, New York, and held housekeeping department leadership positions at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and at Keuka College.

His professional accomplishments were a testament to his determination to move beyond the limitations of his early life.

Jack retired at age 62 and spent the remaining years of his life increasingly devoted to the things that mattered most to him: his faith, helping others, appreciating the beauty of Jehovah's creation, and, above all, his life with Anamari.

His Christian faith remained central to his life. Jack served as an elder in congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses and found great satisfaction in sharing his Bible-based hope with others. Whether caring for members of the congregation, participating in public witnessing, or simply speaking with someone about his faith, Jack wanted others to know the hope that had given direction and meaning to his own life.

Perhaps the clearest evidence of Jack's growth could be seen in the way he came to care for those closest to him.

When Anamari became seriously ill during the final year of Jack's life, he became her determined advocate. He closely followed her medical care, communicated with doctors and hospital staff, and worked to ensure that she received the attention she needed. At home, after many years in which Anamari had carried much of the responsibility for their household, Jack took those responsibilities upon himself. He cooked, cleaned, shopped, and cared for his wife.

Their roles had, in many respects, completely reversed.

And their final year together became the happiest and most loving of their more than 54 years of marriage.

Only about a week before his death, Jack told Joshua of his plans with Anamari: “We're going down by the lake for a while and try and enjoy the beauty of Jehovah's creation, and of our love for each other.”

Those simple words captured much of what Jack cherished near the end of his life: his God, the beauty of creation, and the woman with whom he had shared more than half a century.

Jack also became an important source of comfort and encouragement to Joshua and his grandsons, Ethan and Lucian. In later years, he spoke openly with Joshua about mistakes he had made earlier in life. He accepted responsibility for them, expressed his sorrow, and worked to build a different relationship.

He celebrated their successes, encouraged them through difficult times, and reminded them during setbacks of the hope and lasting joy he believed Jehovah promises to those who remain faithful. During some of the most difficult years Joshua and his sons faced, Jack was there to encourage them and to cheer them on as they prepared to begin a new chapter of their lives together.

Jack spent the evening before his death attending a congregation meeting and socializing with friends after the services were over.

The following morning, Friday, August 21, he arose at his home in Montour Falls and made breakfast for Anamari. Afterward, he went to lie down and rest, as he commonly did.

A short time later, Anamari went to him and discovered that Jack had quietly passed away.

There is something fitting in the simplicity of Jack's final morning. After a lifetime of learning more deeply what it meant to love and care for another person, one of his final acts was an ordinary act of service for the woman he loved:

He made his wife breakfast.

Jack is survived by his beloved wife of more than 54 years, Anamari Proscia, of Montour Falls, New York; his stepson, Joshua Mark DeMelo, of Lakeway, Texas; his grandsons, Ethan DeMelo and Lucian DeMelo; his younger half-sister, Maryanne Proscia Ware, and her husband, Mark Ware, of Clarksburg, West Virginia; and his nephew, John Mark Ware.

He was preceded in death by his father,Jack Proscia Sr.; his mother, Elizabeth Proscia (Riegle); his sister, Mari Proscia; and his maternal grandmother, Florence Riegle, whose patient efforts to share her faith with a troubled young Jack helped set his life on an entirely different course.

Ecclesiastes 7:1 says that “a good name is better than good oil, and the day of death is better than the day of birth.” Few scriptures could better express the arc of Jack's life.

The day of one's birth tells us where a person begins. The day of one's death allows us to look back upon the name he has made during all the years in between.

Jack did not live a perfect life. He would not have claimed that he did. His life instead demonstrated something perhaps more encouraging: a person's beginning need not determine his ending.

Jack believed in Jehovah's patience, mercy, and willingness to forgive those who sincerely seek Him. His own life bore witness to the possibility that through faith, humility, repentance, perseverance, and time, a person can continue changing throughout an entire lifetime.

For Jack, the hope he shared with others was also deeply personal: the Biblical promise that death is not the end and that a time will come when those sleeping in death will live again in a peaceful world restored according to God's purpose.

Until that day, those who knew and loved Jack will remember his perseverance, his faith, his willingness to change, his encouragement to others, his love for Jehovah, and especially the love he came to show so deeply for Anamari.

Jack entered this world on May 7, 1941. He left it on August 21, 2026, having made for himself something far more valuable than anything material he could have accumulated along the way:

A good name.

His journey was a long one.

And he finished it in love.

Perhaps no words better summarize the transformation of Jack's life, or the faith upon which he ultimately placed his hope, than the words of Jesus Christ recorded at Matthew 19:26:

“With God all things are possible.”

A service will be held on Saturday, September 5, 2026 at 1:00 pm at Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 2590 State Route 414, Watkins Glen, NY 14891. To join by zoom : Zoom info: Memorial Service for Jack Proscia, Meeting ID: 869 7598 9447, Passcode: 090526