Isabelle (Zelonis) Yacobenas

Isabelle (Zelonis) Yacobenas, formerly of Pine Street, Tamaqua, passed away peacefully at the age of 104 on Saturday, July 1, 2023 at the Mahoning Valley Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Lehighton where she was a resident for the last 7 years.


Born Saturday, May 10, 1919 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of the late Bronislaw and Isabelle (Radzuikiute) Zelonis. At the age of two, Isabelle and her parents returned to Lithuania to help support their family. In 1937, when Isabelle was 18, her parents sent her to live with her aunt and uncle in Tamaqua, leaving her 7 siblings behind. While working in her uncle’s bar, she learned English and met her late husband, Joseph J. Yacobenas, whom she married on February 28, 1942. They were married for 39 years, before he passed away in October 1981.

Isabelle was a dedicated wife, mother, and grandmother, passing on her love for cooking, crocheting, knitting, sewing, and gardening. On her 100th birthday, she said her secret to life was “no drinking, no smoking, and no chasing men.” She would often say that she was around for “too many years,” but she was always happy to go bingo and “wherever they take me.” She also enjoyed watching the Food Network and the Game Show Network.

She was a devoted member of the former SS Peter & Paul Parish, Tamaqua, and she cleaned the church for many years.

Surviving are her son, Joseph R. Yacobenas of Lancaster; daughter, Alice Miller of Andreas; granddaughters, who affectionately called her Nana, Ann Marie Polinger and her fiance, Andrew M. Fritz of Whitehouse Station, NJ, and Lisa M. Fuller and her husband Morgan of Mountain Top; great-granddaughter, Madalyn Polinger, who loves her Nana II; and daughter, Mary Yacobenas of Philadelphia.

Isabelle was also preceded in death by her son-in-law, Gary W. Miller and daughter-in-law, Janis (Metzinger) Yacobenas.

The family will receive friends at the E. Franklin Griffiths Funeral Home & Cremation Services Inc., 655 E. Broad St., Tamaqua, on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, from 6 to 8 pm, and on Thursday morning July 6, 2023 from 9:30 am until 10:30 am.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on July 6, 2023 at 11:00 am from St. John XXIII Roman Catholic Church, 307 Pine Street Tamaqua, Pennsylvania 18252. Interment will follow at Sky-View Memorial Park Tamaqua, Pennsylvania.

Memorials can be made in Isabelle's name to: St. Jerome Regional School, 50 Meadow Ave.,
Tamaqua, Pennsylvania 18252.

Online condolences or a fond memory of Isabelle can be made to the family at www.griffithsfuneralhomes.com .