Giovanna Antonia Crivello

Giovanna Antonia Crivello (Alioto) was born in Porticello, Sicilia on February 28, 1932. As was customary in those days, her father, Nannu Nino Alioto, registered her birth at city hall on March 2, 1932. After 87 years of a beautiful life, most of those years shared with her loving husband, Mariano Crivello, she rejoined him in heaven on his birthday, August 15, 2019.

Her roles were many: daughter, sister, cousin, wife, mother, aunt, grandmother ... she coveted all of them, and no one could be a more proud grandmother, sitting as the Matriarch of the Crivello Family with 24 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren on the way. Our mother's love and adoration for all of us was best captured in a cousin's compliment, "she made you feel like the most important person to her." She always gave great Sicilian advice, one favorite is always be the peacemaker ("sempre ment' a buona"). Her kitchen was always busy with the best of Sicilian food, sometimes making +5 meals a day to accommodate our full house of 10 (and our friends)! The smell of fresh bread would fill the house and fog the windows. She loved our father as much as he adored her, and made sure we all knew how hard he worked. She was very proud of him, and very proud of all us ... always singing praises of her children and grandchildren. To her last days, she would still panic at the sound of a siren, and want to make sure her family was safe. She embodied the notion of unconditional love, devotion, and sacrifice ... her prayers were so pure and powerful and she planted those seeds of love for God in our hearts that she nurtured throughout our lives. Her final days were spent surrounded by family and being cared for by all of her children and grandchildren, and to each she bestowed a blessing for every act of care saying, "U Signuri ti benerisci" (God will bless you).

Giovanna leaves behind her legacy ... her 8 children: Paula, Giuseppe (Teresa), Tony, Sal (Emma), Carmelo, Josephine (Mario), Mario (Sandra), and Mary (Ediz); her 24 grandchildren: Mariano, GianPaolo (JP), Christian, Jennifer, Giannina, Branden, Benjamin, Gianni, Joshua, Mario, Gabriella, Tamara, Jonah, Oliver, Anthony, Mariano C., Claudia, Sophia, Giovanna L., Giovanna M., Mariano G., Gabriel, Leyla and Carmelo; and her 12 great-grandchildren: Paola, GianPaolo M., Christian M., Victoria, Aria, Matteo, Lorenzo, Annabella, Hazel, Naomi, Maya and Augustine. She is survived by 3 sisters: her loving sister Santa Giannone who was always by her side, and her sisters Liuccia LeFiles and Giuseppa Storniolo. She joins her parents in heaven, Antonio Alioto and Giuseppa Buonpensiero, and her siblings Rosa Corrao and Antonio Alioto.

Visitation will be held Thursday, August 22, 2019 from 4:30pm-8:30pm at Green Hills Mortuary, with the Rosary beginning at 7pm. Funeral Services will be held on Friday, August 23, 2019 at 10:30am at Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church with burial immediately following at Green Hills Memorial Park.