Anna Stanko DeLuca

Anna Jane Stanko DeLuca, November 2, 1935 – March 26, 2025,      “Serving others was her greatest joy”

Anna Jane Stanko DeLuca, 89, passed away peacefully on March 26th, 2025, at Trinity Elms Assisted Living in Clemmons, North Carolina. Anishka, her Slovak name meaning “One who only has Friends and no Enemies” was born to the late John and Anna Kvetko Stanko, Slovakian immigrants on November 2nd, 1935, in Lyndhurst Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, where she was raised.

As the youngest of 7 children (Milton, Jaroslov, John, Jenny, Marian and Betty) Ann would, on occasion, travel with her family to the small Slovak farming community of Slavia, Florida, located just outside of Orlando, Florida. Ann’s aunt and uncle were original founders, and owned the iconic General Store that proudly displayed the SLAVIA name as a welcome mat to all passers-by. Ann’s mother died at very young age, leaving her older siblings with the caretaker role. Following High School graduation, Ann moved to Orlando to be closer to her sisters where she met and married Daniel DeLuca, of Peekskill, NY, who, at the time, was stationed at Pinecastle Airforce Base in Orlando, Florida before moving to New Jersey.

Ann raised her family in Sparta, NJ where she served as both homemaker and bookkeeper at Sparta Electric Company. Her greatest joys came in the serving of others; especially when it came to preparing, cooking and the serving of a meal. It was most definitely her love language. At her home, all were welcome to enjoy a hot meal, no matter the time of day or evening. As close friends recall, she didn’t just make one pan of lasagna, she made 2 in addition to the meatballs, sausage and huge bowl of spaghetti that could feed the entire neighborhood and drop-ins that had somehow learned of the daily menu.

In 2014, Ann moved from her beloved home in Sparta to Lake Lure, NC to be closer to her children and grandchildren. She absolutely loved Lake Lure because it reminded her so much of the town of Sparta, Lake Mohawk and the mountain views she had left behind. To her nothing was better than a brisk fall evening, a fire in the fireplace and a glass of wine to call it an evening. Following her tenure at Lake Lure, she moved to the Senior Apartments at Trinity Elms in Clemmons, NC before transitioning to the Assisted Living Center where she was adored and well cared for. Up until the very end, she always shared a memory, a life-lesson or a laugh, including how to kill the boogey-man that lives under the front porch.

Ann is survived by her three children Daniel of Gainesville FL, Chuck (TC) of Charleston, SC and Mary Anne Cao of Atlanta, Ga., her four grandchildren Michael, Cecilia, Anthony, and Robert, and their spouses, her sister Marian, and 9 great-grandchildren. Ann was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Jaroslav, John and Milton, sisters Betty and Jennie and son-in-law Andres Cao.

A private family celebration will be scheduled for the future at the Rumbling Bald Resort in Lake Lure and in the Lieu of flowers, Ann has requested that you pay forward a simple act of kindness or donate to the New Bus Fund for Trinity Elms.