The extraordinary life of the late Carol Bongiovi, who also happened to be Bon Jovi’s mom

Even if the late Carol Bongiovi wasn’t Jon Bon Jovi’s mom, she lived an extraordinary life by any measure.

The former Sayreville resident was a Marine, Playboy bunny and businesswoman, whose Country Charm Manufacturing had such a profile in Central Jersey that Bongiovi was the focus of a 1981 feature article in the former Home News daily newspaper.

The business made silk ribbons, pine cone wreaths and more. Teenage son John Bongiovi, who would later become Jon Bon Jovi, and his friend Peter Mantas, who managed Bon Jovi in the early days, helped out.

“I like to say she was our first boss,” said Mantas, whose mom, Elsie Mantas, was friends with Carol Bongiovi. “We used to go out in the woods and pick up pine cones because she was making pine cone wreathes. We used to work for her doing the hot wax, putting together wreaths, and picking up the pine cones behind the Truman School (in Sayreville).

Carol Bongiovi died July 9 at Monmouth Medical Center in New Jersey, three days before her 84th birthday, according to an obituary shared by Bon Jovi’s reps.

“It was a life well lived, and she was a great lady,” Mantas said. “She always kept in touch with me. ‘Your buddy wants you to call him.’ ”

The Country Charm silk flowers were sold in more than 1,000 stores in 30 states, according to the 1981 Home News article.

“I had every neighbor working on pine cones, wreaths, you name it,” said Bongiovi to the Home News.

More:Carol Bongiovi, Jon Bon Jovi’s mother, dies at 83

Bongiovi grew up as Carol Sharkey in Erie, Pennsylvania. She met John Bongiovi Sr., later a hairstylist, in the Marines, and the couple raised three sons in the Sherwood Forest section of Sayreville.

They lived at 16 Robinhood Drive. The house was later given away to a fan via an MTV contest.

Bongiovi worked as a bunny at the New York City Playboy Club when her kids were growing up.

“I did go there as a kid,” said Jon to Larry King in 2006. “Oh God, did I have the stories and the pictures.”

Carol brought John his first guitar when he was 13. After John became Jon Bon Jovi, Carol headed the young rocker’s fan club, which she ran out of the Country Charm shop in the Edison Shopping Center on Woodbridge Avenue.

Sometimes Bon Jovi fans would show up in disguise.

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“They’ll touch me and they’ll scream, ‘Ooh, I touched Bon Jovi’s mother!’ ” said Carol to the Home News as the band was recording their “Slippery When Wet” breakthrough in 1986.

Rev. Robert Lynam, aka Father Bob, came on board to help the fan club after Bon Jovi became one of the biggest bands in the world. He was a pastor at the Our Lady of Victories Parish in Sayreville.

“The caliber of kids that Jon is attracting makes me not worry about the youth of today,” said Carol to the Home News. “It’s the older ones I worry about. I get upset when I see the 40, 50-year old women goo-gooing and gah-gahing over him. I feel like saying. ‘Hey, wait a minute, that’s my baby!’ “

The family home remained a community hub in Sayreville in the 1980s as Bon Jovi’s fame grew. Sunday dinners, featuring pasta sauce cooked by John Sr., grew to include a few rock stars along the way. Steven Van Zandt, Southside Johnny and Stone Pony deejay Lee Mrowicki pulled up.

“As soon as you met her, she’s as nice lady as you can meet,” Mrowicki said. “That’s the kind of person you want for your mom yourself.”

Bongiovi helped Mrowicki organize a prayer vigil at the onset of Operation Desert Storm in 1990.

“Her being a Marine, she offered her assistance. Once a Marine, always a Marine,” Mrowicki said. “Father Bob, he brought the candles and of course he led us in prayer.”

Jon Bon Jovi paid tribute to his parents, who lived in Holmdel, in a video for the 2021 song “Story of Love,” and the rocker reshared the video Wednesday, July 10.

“Momma, we carry you with us always (heart emojis),” Bon Jovi, 62, said.

Surviving is her husband of 63 years, John, and her three sons, and their wives and children. Those wishing to leave a note of condolence can do so at the Holmdel Funeral Home at holmdelfuneralhome.com.

“She was a special lady,” Mantas said. “She loved all of her boys.”

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at [email protected].