Services for Francine Gianni are Tuesday

Funeral services for Francine A. Gianni, 31, will be held at St. Lucy's Church, 118 7th Ave., Newark, N.J., on Tuesday, April 16, at 10:30 a.m., according to an April 12 obituary in the Star-Ledger.

Gianni was the wife of Timothy Gianni, whose family owns the Maplewood Stationers in Maplewood Village. She was the store's clerical manager and also was a professional assistant at the Prout Funeral Home. She was closely involved in the South Orange-Maplewood Kiwanis Memorial Day Duck Race.

She died from a rare adverse reaction to fertility drugs; she was pregnant at the time.

Gianni's mother-in-law, . Her sister-in-law, Claire Sinclair, a Tuscan Elementary School teacher, has been blogging about how she and her close-knit family have been coping with these two tragic losses. Sinclair's most recent blog post, "Supporting the Living," explores how wakes are not only a chance for mourners to express grief for those who have been lost, but also a way to acknowledge and comfort the survivors.

As Francine Gianni was a staunch animal lover, the Gianni family has asked for donations to be made to the ASCPA or the Jersey Animal Coalition in lieu of flowers.