Vincenzella “Jean” (Giuliani) Januzzi, born January 7, 1928, in Salineville, Ohio, deceased from complications related to dementia, while residing in Cincinnati. Jean was the daughter of Italian immigrants, Vincenzo and Raffaela (nee Scurti) Giuliani, of Spoltore, Italy. Mother of Laura Januzzi of Lakewood, Paul (Kim) Januzzi of North Ridgeville Annette Januzzi Wick (Mark Manley) of Cincinnati, Beth Januzzi Underhill (David) of Cincinnati, and Jeanne Marie Januzzi of Westlake.
Grandmother to Zachary Sroka, David and Drew Januzzi, Davis Wick, Cheryl, Shannon, and Kaitlyn Manley, Gia Underhill, and Sophia Murphy. She is also survived by various nieces and nephews. Reunited with her husband, Ettore, their son, David Ettore, her parents, her stepfather, Luigi DeLuca, and half-brother, Tony DeLuca, and her son-in-law, Devin Wick.
Jean was a graduate of Lorain High School, class of 1946, and worked in payroll and the IBM department at Magic Chef for five years until the company closed. She pursued a two-year degree in teaching through a program at Kent State University and became a first and second-grade teacher at St John’s in South Lorain for five years. Jean was a member of the original St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Lorain, belonging to the Young Ladies Society, taking part in the May crownings every year.
She met and married Ettore Januzzi in 1961, and they made their home in Amherst, Ohio with their five children. They joined St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, where Jean taught as religion teacher for many years, made communion bread, cleaned the church and offered her famous soups for Lenten dinners. She was known to the priests for often sending a casserole of lasagna to their living quarters.
And she spent many mornings giving communion to hospital patients and residents of senior living communities. She surrounded herself with her children and grandchildren and her church community. Often with her closest girlfriends, she played cards and always joked about winning the booby prize.
“Our mother was the consummate hostess. If you visited to our home, not only would you find it immaculate because she took great pride in home ownership, but you were treated to meals rivaling those of four-star restaurants now. And her homemade Italian cookies have traveled across the country as her children have”.
She and Ettore journeyed to the far reaches of the states with and without their children, visiting Florida, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. They relished walks on the beach before their kids woke and trips to D.C. to visit with the Berens and other excursions where they immersed themselves in our country’s past and present. While Ettore was the driver, Jean was the navigator, plotting out routes and stops via AAA triptiks.
Their final trip of note was to Italy with their daughters and sons-in-law. Though she had been born to Italian immigrants, Jean had never visited Italy. She had three wishes—to see Rome and participate in an audience with the pope, to visit Florence, and to stroll the canals of Venice, all of which were accomplished during that pilgrimage.
Ultimately, she was simply best at mothering and lived by the creed, “We go wherever the need is”. “In our mother’s last five years, she lived in a memory care home where she had access to out of doors whenever the spirit moved her. If you couldn’t locate her, she was seated in the sun.
She was surrounded with love from the caregivers and staff of Arden Courts, who gave selflessly of their time to ensure Mom was active, content, or comfortable, especially following a broken hip. In her last years, she received the love she had so freely showered on her children and many others”. Exacting in the many facets of her life, she was unwavering in her faith and became that pinprick of light in the darkness for everyone who cared for and loved her.
Mrs. Januzzi’s family will receive family and friends at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 200 St. Joseph Drive, Amherst, OH on Monday, June 25, 2018 from 10:00 AM until the time of the Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 AM, Fr. Timothy J. O’Connor, Pastor, officiating. Christian burial services will be held at Calvary Cemetery in Lorain, OH.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Cincinnati, 644 Linn St # 1026, Cincinnati, OH 45203. Online condolences and gifts of sympathy may be shared with the family by using www. rsgfuneralhome.com.
Arrangements and services by Reidy-Scanlan-Giovannazzo Funeral Home and Cremation Services, (440) 244-1961.
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