Ida Celenza Van Gilder

To view the livestream Mass of the Christian Burial on behalf of

Mrs. Ida Celenza Van Gilder,

on Saturday, January 11, 2025, at 10 AM, please click the link below and

select "Video Resources" under the menu:

Holy Family Parish
Mass of the Christian Burial for Mrs. Ida Celenza Van Gilder

STOW - Ida Celenza Van Gilder was welcomed home on Saturday, January 4, 2025, after a brief illness. At 94, she lived an amazing life full of intrigue and adventure. It all makes for a wonderful story that began with her parents immigrating from Italy in July 1929. She was born the following May in Murray Hill in Cleveland and lived an adventurous youth in Collinwood and South Euclid. As a young girl, she played the violin and continued to play through high school. She met Jim Van Gilder while working at Brush High School and took on the risk of relocating to Wooster, Ohio. That’s where Jim accepted a job at a newly conceived Triway High School. From then on, she embraced the challenges of raising three boys in Tallmadge, Ohio during the 60s, 70s and early 80s.

Her primary focus was always her family; however, she found time to play a vital role in the Tallmadge Lioness and Lions Clubs for over 50 years. She was awarded Lion of the Year in 2006. Ida also taught catechism classes at Our Lady of Victory Church for several years, in addition to tutoring kids at the Summit County Juvenile Detention Center and Stow Public Library. She served as tour guide with the Stow Sunshiners and delivered Meals on Wheels. From 1978 to 1991, she worked at Tallmadge High School, primarily in the Guidance Office.

Her true passions included listening to classical music, cooking, gardening, and appreciating the beauty of nature. She was twice dubbed “Cook of the Week” by the Tallmadge Express newspaper.

While raising her family, Ida was masterful at being Mrs. James E. Van Gilder; he was an ardent sports fan and prominent figure in the community during his 40+ year career in education. Her crowning achievement was raising her three boys, who have been married a combined 120 years. Mom was always there after a practice, for a match, meet, medical/physical ailment or heartbreak. She was also the best “Mimi” or “Nonna” a grandkid could ever have.

Throughout her life, Ida was a ray of sunshine, an inspiration and role model to her friends, family and even people who she met for the first time. Jack McKee with Tallmadge Schools once wrote, “Thank you for bringing your efficiency, positive attitude, and pleasant smile to our school. Your ability to balance so many tasks and your three counselors is a real gift.” Indeed!

In her later years, she learned to adapt to a shrinking world, yet never complained, remained sharp as a tack with a quick wit, and always thought of others first.

Ida was preceded in death by her husband of 51+ years, James Van Gilder; mother, Catherine (Lanza); father, Dominic Celenza, and her brothers, John and Carmen Celenza. She leaves behind her sons, Anthony “Tony” and Connie (Andres) Van Gilder, Mark and Holly (Link) Van Gilder, and Jim and Kathleen (Carter) Van Gilder; her grandchildren, Alicia Greenwood (Patrick), Cayla Koslen (Michael), Amanda Van Gilder (Jay Riahi), Erin Van Gilder, and Michael Van Gilder (Alexandra), as well as her great-grandchildren, James “Jay Bird”, Rosie, and John Michael “Mickey” Greenwood.

Mass of the Christian Burial will be conducted at Holy Family Catholic Church, 3179 Kent Road, Stow 44224, at 10 AM, on Saturday, January 11, 2025. The Mass will be available to view via live stream at holyfamilystow.org/video-resources . Immediately afterward, guests are invited to join the family for lunch at the church. Burial will follow lunch at Tallmadge Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, feel free to plant flowers around your home next spring and think of Ida. (If you wish, fashion the flower bed in such a way as to make it nearly impossible to mow the grass, and think of her husband, Jim.) Donations can also be made to the American Cancer Society , P.O. Box 6704, Hagerstown, MD  21741, targeting colorectal cancer and research programs.