LTC John “Jack” F. Sirianni, USA Ret., 78, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, September 14, 2011, at home surrounded by his family. Jack was born on February 28, 1933 in Hornell NY to parents John and Loretta. He was married on May 5, 1989 to his loving wife Carol Sirianni.
He served in the US Army for 24 ½ years as part of the Adjutant General Corp as well as the 101 Airborne Division and retired on his birthday at the age of 40. He began his career as enlisted and after 5 years attended Officer Candidate School. He spent many of his years abroad and served in Vietnam. His favorite past time of retirement was fishing on his boat, Loretta, out on the water. He also enjoyed hunting and playing pool. He was an active member of the Manasota Elks Lodge, 2734, for the past 12 years. He ate dinner at JoTo Japanese Steak House for sushi and sake every Wednesday for the past 23 years. He was affectionately known as Uncle Jack and The Good Guy to many.
Surviving, in addition to his wife, are two sons Ronald (Kathy)Sirianni, of Bradenton and Daniel Sirianni Sr, of Hornell, NY; step-father to Tana (Dave) Brooks, of Maryland and Bobby (Kim) Fick, of Michigan; his sisters Margaret Squires and Sharon Gibbs of Bradenton, Lorraine McElroy, of Tucson, AZ and his brother Pete (Marlene) Sirianni , Hornell, NY; his grandchildren Jeffery (Kari) Sirianni, of Ashburn, VA, Eric Sirianni, of Dalton PA, Daniel Sirianni Jr, of Hornell NY, Cara Sirianni, of Reading PA, and Robert Sirianni, of Houston TX, step-grandchildren Kyle and Jacob Fick, of Michigan, Stephen and Robert Baldoni, of Maryland. He was a loving father-in-law to Barb (Dale) Creswell, of Dalton, Pennsylvania, and Dorothy (Howard) Nisbet, of Hornell, NY. He is also survived by 3 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his son Johnny.
Services will be September 30 at 11 am at Sarasota National Cemetery. Memorial Contributions can be made to Tidewell Hospice or Harry Anna Trust Fund in care of Manasota Elks Charity.
My next trip to Florida won’t be the same without seeing Jack at the Elks. I’ll miss you and your great personalty. RIP Jack.
Wayne
To the family of LTC John Sirianni…
just a note… very belated… to tell you how sorry I was to learn of your loss. As a young lieutenant in the Adjutant General Corps, I served under John in 1969-1970. He was tough, but fair. I found this out after locking horns with him a couple of times… once was very funny… he had to dress me down, but I was pretty sure he was laughing inside.
Seems he wanted the post office I ran painted… because of a shortage of supplies (everything was being diverted to Viet Nam), I could not procure the colors of paint I needed to do the job and when he showed up at my unit 2 weeks after issuing the order… the job was still undone.
LTC John was pretty hot under the collar… he made it known to me that he’d be returning to my unit in 2 more weeks and that he expected the job to be done… “Lieutenant, use some initiative and get it done” were his exact words.
Long story short… try as my first sergeant and I might… we could not find acceptable paint anywhere within our theatre. The job required 10 gallons and all we could find was 8 gallons of white and 2 of red. The solution…
We used our initiative, mixed them up, and painted the P.O… as a result, we had the only Pepto-Bismol Pink facility in the U.S. Army. It really stood out!
Knowing there was going to be hell to pay, I got my request for reassignment to Viet Nam prepared, just in case. As it turned out, I needed it. The old man ate me alive. Of course, I had it coming… and my next stop was Camron Bay and then the Mekong Delta.
Anyway, alls well that ends well. I would not have done Viet Nam again for a million bucks, but then I wouldn’t take a million bucks for the experience either. It changed my life for the better. At any rate, please know that the colonel has long been and will always be a character I remember and I remain thankful for the lessons he taught me. Your family lost a man of real character there and my thoughts are with you.