Joan Clare Ciccone, Madonna’s stepmother and the wife of the pop star’s father, Silvio, for 58 years, has passed away at the age of 81.
Joan died on Tuesday, September 24, following a brief battle with an aggressive form of cancer, as noted in her online obituary.
“She will be terribly missed by her family and friends whose lives she enriched with her enthusiasm, joy, and love,” the obituary reads in part.
According to TMZ, Joan served as Madonna’s housekeeper during her childhood in Michigan. The singer’s mother, who also went by Madonna, passed away from cancer in December 1966 at the age of 30, when the future star was only 5 years old. Three years later, Joan married Silvio.
Although Joan’s obituary mentioned she found “an instant family” after marrying Silvio Ciccone, Madonna, 66, described having a challenging relationship with her stepmother during her childhood. In a 2002 interview with Larry King, she revealed that she “sometimes suffered” during the “moments of chaos” that characterized her early years.
“My mother died when I was little and that was difficult for me for a while,” she admitted to King. “I mean truthfully, I didn’t accept my stepmother when I was growing up. In retrospect, I think that was really hard on her. She was [trying]… I’m very close to my father and I didn’t want to accept change in my life.”
Madonna and Her Stepmother Joan Ciccone Seemed to Be On Good Terms in Recent Years
While it remains uncertain whether Joan and Madonna reconciled over the years, a fan video circulating online captures a heartwarming moment of the two embracing backstage during Madonna’s MDNA tour in 2012.
Alongside Silvio and his first wife Madonna’s six children, Joan and Silvio also had a daughter named Jennifer, who is 56, and a son named Mario, who is 55. Tragically, they lost a son named Joey shortly after his birth in 1967 due to a heart defect.
Joan was born in Taylor, Michigan, as noted in her obituary. After graduating from Henry Ford Community College, she worked as a dental assistant and successfully ran a daycare for over 20 years.
In 1995, she and Silvio, aged 93, relocated to Suttons Bay, Michigan, to establish and manage Ciccone Vineyard and Winery.
“She took special joy in her grandkids later in life and with the grim cancer prognosis lamented that she was sad she would not see them marry and have kids of their own,” her obituary notes.