Jerry Cipolla

Jerry Cipolla, June 8, 1923-July 28, 2019 A 32-year-old man, Michael Angelo Cipolla, a barber, fresh off the boat from Sicily caught the eye of a teenage girl Marie Sciolino. He ultimately asked for her hand in marriage and the Jerry Cipolla story begins…. Marie had difficulty conceiving so she prayed to Saint Gerard (Gerardo Maiella) as he is the Catholic saint of unborn children and expectant mothers. She vowed to name her child after him if she was able to conceive; thusly, her first born was named Gerard (Jerry); two other children followed Tom and Michael. Sadly, Jerry’s Dad died young, leaving Marie with three children and no means of support. Jerry, who was a very bright student and had already skipped two grades was forced to quit school at the age of 12 to support the family. He worked in a grocery store, as a milkman and various other jobs to help his mom and brothers. Jerry craved knowledge and missed feeding his brain; the family had one book, (other than a bible) a dictionary and that is what he read almost on a daily basis…..till the day of his passing, if you wanted to know a word, ask Jerry. Jerry found himself attending a wedding at 17 years old and that is where he spotted the most beautiful women he had ever seen, Catherine Cassata…. Catherine was 14 months older than Jerry, but jerry wasn’t going to tell her that for a while. They began dating and Jerry had to deal with Catherine’s 5 very protective older brothers; he hung in there and they were married on September 10th ,1944. Jerry was rejected from joining America’s war effort because of a broken eardrum so he went to work building and repairing ships for the navy. Jerry was fearless; he was one of very few who would shuffle between the 12” space between the double hulls of a ship to make repairs, he also performed the repairs on the mast, climbing to the top without support or a net. All the while Jerry and Catherine continued to help support his mom and his two brothers, giving a portion of his weekly pay to them. After the shipyard, Jerry worked a few other jobs, truck driver, paint company and then in 1951 he found the insurance business. Jerry was a fast learner and became a superstar, leading the nation in sales for John Hancock Life Insurance company. He learned Spanish in about a month, from a friend and sold life insurance to Puerto Ricans living in New York. In January 1954 Jerry was drawn to California, his Mom and his two brothers were already living there and other family as well…. They packed up their 1953 ford and drove with their two sons, Michael (8) and Joseph (5) to Culver city. Two years in Culver City and they moved to their new home in Hawthorn where James was born. The family’s life together was storybook. Jerry coached his two oldest Son’s baseball team; he was a great athlete but knew nothing of team sports, baseball in particular, when the little league president asked for volunteer coaches his two sons pushed Jerry out from the line of other Dad’s….The Sons Michael and Joseph wound up coaching their Dad on the rules and strategies of the game. Jerry loved music and taught himself how to play piano; the family spent many hours playing instruments and singing together. Jerry retired from John Hancock after 40 years, moved to Irvine and began a very long retirement with Catherine…They loved to cruise, with 35+ cruises taken over the years. Jerry’s beautiful wife Catherine passed in 2016, they were married 72 years …Jerry’s dedication to Catherine was unwavering. Catherine had a stroke and did not know Jerry for 10 months before her passing but he visited her daily driving from Irvine to Tustin, just to sit with her and hold her hand. Jerry spent the last 3+ years living in a senior apartment complex in Irvine. He made lots of friends, he was good at that, and instantly became a leader. Jerry headed-up several committees, played on the volleyball team, lead the exercise class many times a week and was president of the resident’s association…Jerry also met a special companion with whom he shared many moments of his last two years. Jerry is survived by his brother Michael (Nan), his three sons Michael (Donna), Joseph (Teri), James (Debbie), 9 Grandchildren, Kimberly (David), Gregory (April), Christopher (Karyn), Andrew (Lisa), Mark (Natashia) Matt (Shannon), Laura (Austin), Jason and Eric (deceased). Jerry had 16 Great-Grandchildren and two Great-Great-Grandchildren. Jerry was a special man, a pure intellect with always a smile on his face and a joke for any occasion. He was generous, loved big and was loved back by all who knew him. Jerry Cipolla, truly a man to whom one would aspire to emulate.

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