Jean Zisa, Hackensack political matriarch, dies at 86
Saturday February 4, 2012, 11:31 PM
BY JAMES M. O'NEILL
STAFF WRITER
The Record
Jean F. Zisa, matriarch of one of Hackensack’s most prominent political families, died Friday at her home in Hackensack. She was 86.
Mrs. Zisa was the wife of one Hackensack mayor and mother of another, and she spent her life involved in a wide array of civic and charitable activities. She also worked at the Zisa Insurance Agency, which her husband founded in 1946.
For 64 years, Mrs. Zisa was married to Frank C. Zisa, who served 16 years on the Hackensack City Council and was mayor from 1977-81.
Frank Zisa died last June at age 91.
Mrs. Zisa was the mother of three sons, all of whom have held prominent positions in Hackensack city government.
John F. Zisa was mayor from 1989 to 2005.
Ken Zisa is the suspended Hackensack police chief and former state assemblyman, and Frank Zisa Jr. is a retired deputy police chief.
Mrs. Zisa was a member of the Hackensack chapter of the Ladies of Unico and the Society of Santa Croce Camerina, two Italian-American service organizations.
She was a lifelong resident of Hackensack and a parishioner at St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church there.
In addition to her sons, she is survived by a sister, Rose Fontanella, and three grandchildren.
