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Lillian Marietta Cyran (1925-2025)
(College Photo, 1947)
With great regret, the Cyran family announces the passing of their beloved mother, Lillian Marietta Cyran
A memorial scholarship fund is being established in her name by her sons at the MARIE SKLODOWSKA CURIE PROFESSIONAL WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested any donations be made to this scholarship fund thru this Link: https://gofund.me/4040a2fbc
She passed away peacefully at her home in the early morning hours of Monday, November 17, 2025 at the age of 100 as a result of conditions incident to advanced age. She suffered from a slow, long-term (about 15 years) case of gradual dementia, perhaps simply described as "forgetting another thing each day." She was physically healthy and strong almost to the very end - she still had all her natural teeth (except wisdom teeth removed in her youth), and she did not require any medication. She was able to walk with some assistance within a week of her death. She was a remarkably good driver even until age 94 and could drive her car with typical New York City skill. But her family had to take her car keys away when she lost her ability to navigate - she could not drive around the block without getting confused. Around this same time she also started to need a part-time in-home companion-caretaker. She required 24/7 supervision her last four years. She was unable to engage in a logical conversation in the last three years. In her last two years she did not recognized that she was living in her own home, and in her last year rarely recognized her family and caretakers. Even though she slowly grew weaker and weaker near the end, she did not appear to be in much pain and was not on any pain medication. She was visited and surrounded by her family and loyal caretakers in her own bed in her own home in the days and hours prior to her passing. It was sad to watch how a once kind, loving, happy, and intelligent person could slowly decline over a long period of time to such an infantile level of functional intelligence, unable to feel love or happiness. Her children are grateful that they had the time and means to care for her - as best they could - in her own home, without having to institutionalize her.
Arrangements are being handled by Papavero Funeral Home in Maspeth, NY, and her obituary will also be posted on their website. In accordence with her wishes and in agreement with her children, she was cremated soon after her passing, with no viewing, visitation, or church funeral. However, a graveside interment service of her cremains and a Celebration of Life gathering will be conducted on 25 April 2026 as described on this and the funeral home's websites. Graveside interment services at 11:15 AM at St. John's Cemetery in Middle Village, NY. Celebration of Life gathering at noon at Villa Erasmo in Middle Village, NY.
For further information, please contact her son Frederic Cyran (click on "Escape to http://cyran.us" at the bottom of this webpage.)
Obituary 1: Summary Size
Obituary 2: Medium Size
Obituary 1: Summary Size
Cyran, Lillian Marietta - Died on 17 November, 2025 at age 100. Born and raised in Manhattan, she lived in Maspeth since 1959. She was a retired elementary teacher in the New York City Public School System. She is survived by her four sons, Frederic, Alexander, Lawrence, and Daniel, 11 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Michael; two sisters, Genevieve Young and Irene Geller, and one grandson. A graveside funeral service, followed by a Celebration of Life gathering will held 25 April 2026. Interment at St. John's Cemetery in Middle Village under the direction of Papavero Funeral Home (more details and photographs at http://cyran.us)
Obituary 2: Medium Size
Cyran, Lillian Marietta - Died on 17 November 2025 of causes due to advanced age being 100 years old. Born on 10 January 1925 in Manhattan's Upper East Side, she was the third of three daughters to Polish immigrants Michael and Mary Cecilia (Nalepa) Jarosz. She graduated Julia Richman High School in Manhattan in 1942 and enjoyed school-related modern dance clubs. She was a graduate of Hunter College where she earned a BA degree in education, and later received an MA degree from the City University of New York. In 1954 she married Michael Cyran. Their family moved to Maspeth, NY in 1959. She was a career elementary teacher at P.S. 31 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for the New York City Public School System, from 1966 until retiring in 1985. Since her college days, she loved to study modern dance and actively folk danced into her later years. She loved nature, bird-watching, hiking, being outdoors, and enjoyed spending quality time with her four sons and her grandchildren. She was proud of her Polish heritage and served as an officer of various Polish-American cultural organizations throughout her life. She was a founding member of both the POLISH AMERICAN TEACHER'S ASSOCIATION and the MARIE SKLODOWSKA CURIE PROFESSIONAL WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION. She had a warm active personality and was known for her generosity and willingness to help others. She will be deeply missed by her family, friends, and Jagoda Hykl who cared for her dearly. She is predeceased by her husband of 57 years, Michael, who died in 2012, her parents, two sisters, Genevieve Young and Irene Geller, and a grandson Jason. She is survived by four sons, Frederic, Alexander, Lawrence, and Daniel; grandchildren Amber Howard, Marietta DeFini, Angela Dominguez, Rachel Hernandez, Matthew, Dominique Bariso, Michela, Jonathan, Zachary, Benjamin, and Emily. A graveside funeral service and a Celebration of Life gathering will be conducted on Saturday, 25 April 2026. Family members, friends of the family, and those who knew Lillian are invited to join us at one or both events. The interment of cremains will be at 11:15 AM at St. John's Cemetery in Middle Village, Queens, New York, at the family plot located in Section 50, Range K, grave 47-49 (near the cemetery side entrance at Furmanville Avenue and 83rd Place). Following interment, the Celebration of Life gathering will start at noon at Villa Erasmo, located at 69-61 Juniper Blvd South in Middle Village (about 1 mile or 5 minutes from the cemetery, with ample street parking in the area). Arrangements were under the direction of Papavero Funeral Home (more details and photographs at http://cyran.us). A memorial scholarship fund is being established in her name by her sons at the MARIE SKLODOWSKA CURIE PROFESSIONAL WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested any donations be made to this scholarship fund thru this Link: https://gofund.me/4040a2fbc
(Pre-K Public School Teacher, 1984)
(Wedding of Michael Cyran and Lillian Jarosz, 1954)
(Silhouette 2014 - her son Alex asked to post this because it has charm and elegance)
(At her home, October 2025, one month before her passing at age 100 1/2 years old))
(Her marital family - left to right: husband Michael Cyran, Lillian, sons Fred, Alex, Larry and Dan, 1984)
(Her parental family - left to right: father Michael Jaorsz, Lillian, mother Marie, sisters Irene and Gene, 1940s)
Escape to http://cyran.usUpdated 31 December 2025