Obituary of Giovanna Porco

With heavy hearts our family shares the devastating passing of our beloved mother and grandmother, Giovanna Porco. She left this world peacefully on the morning of October 12, 2023, at the age of 83 after just a year-long battle with Stage IV gallbladder cancer.

Giovanna was born on July 8, 1940 to Luigi and Aquila(Guido) Sansone in Cerisano, Province of Cosenza, Italy. She emigrated to the United States of America shortly after marrying the love of her life, Antonio, affectionately known as "Totonno" or "Tony". After settling in the Bronx, New York, they welcomed two sets of twins, Pasquale and Giovanni then followed by Frank and Susan.

Giovanna took great pride in her home. Up until her cancer diagnosis, her daily routine consisted of vacuuming, mopping, fluffing the couch pillows, polishing the tables, cleaning the porch, tending to her garden and of course – cooking.

She loved interacting with people and always created strong relationships with all her neighbors who fondly remember the summer days where she would sit in the garage and gladly welcome anyone in to sit and talk over coffee or fresh fruit. Her doors were always opened for anyone to stop in for an espresso or a full course meal at any given time.

Weekly Sunday dinners at her house always felt like Christmas, no matter what time of the year it was. Having her family around her table every week was something she continuously looked forward to no matter how much cooking or how much cleaning she would have to do.

She devoted her life to her family, especially her husband, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, who in return, loved her to no end and gave her a life full of happiness, joy, and occasional headaches. Giovanna was the woman all women should strive to be.

Despite her age and advancement of her disease, she endured almost a full year of chemotherapy treatments that were accompanied by a surplus of doctors' appointments and hospital stays. Doctors were amazed at the dedication and support our family gave; she did not go through this alone. She put up a good fight and was a true fighter right until the very end. She wanted to live.

She will forever be remembered for her courage, love, generosity, sense of humor, kindness and her authentic calabrese cuisine.

Giovanna is survived by her endlessly devoted husband of 56 years, Antonio Porco, her four adoring children, Pasquale Porco, Giovanni Porco, Frank(Kathy) Porco and Susan Porco, her loving grandchildren, Jacqueline(Robert) Sinatra, Nicole Prati, and Anthony Porco as well as her two great-grandchildren who loved her so much, Frank and Roman Sinatra, her sister, Maria and countless nieces, nephews, cousins and in-laws who all loved her the same. She was "Zia Anna" to everyone who knew her.