Mario Paul DiGiovanni

Mario DiGiovanni died on June 24, 2019, following a valiant struggle against prostate cancer. To the end he was engaged with family and friends and very much himself.

Mario, a 34-year resident of Oakland, was a native of Waterbury, CT. Born on November 16, 1953, he was the son of the late Gerald and Lillian Asselin DiGiovanni. Survived by his beloved wife Kathy, children Dominic (KT) and Anna, brother Francis and sister Judith, niece Carol Trudeau, other family and devoted friends. He was a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he studied Chemical Engineering. After graduating from WPI Mario began a 40+ year career in chemical manufacturing, beginning with Monsanto in East St. Louis, MO and ending with DuPont in Martinez, CA. In 1977 he moved from St. Louis to California on what he called “the world’s longest temporary assignment.” He advanced through more and more responsible positions in operations, maintenance, and process engineering, becoming manager of Monsanto’s Avon plant in 1989, a post he held for 17 years. After that he moved on to product development and stewardship. It’s no exaggeration to say that Mario was a wordwide expert on sulfuric acid catalyst manufacturing.

Mario met his great love, Kathy, in 1983 and married her in 1985. She first fell in love with his beautiful singing voice. Mario’s interest in music and choral singing began in his youth with guitar lessons and school and college choirs. After joining the Greek Orthodox Church in 1992 he became a mainstay of the Ascension Cathedral choir, bolstering the tenor and bass sections, serving as assistant conductor, and managing the choir’s vast music collection. He was especially proud of having arranged the Paschal Canon in English. Mario’s commitment to church music extended to serving on the board of the Church Music Federation of the San Francisco Metropolis, where he was the Federation’s membership chairman and webmaster. He helped drive the Federation’s first conductor training academy. In 2007 he received the Patriarch Athenagoras award for distinguished service to church music in the San Francisco Metropolis.

The Trisagion service will be held on Monday, July 1 at 7:00. Funeral services will be at 11:00, Tuesday, July 2. Both services will be held at Ascension Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 4700 Lincoln Ave., Oakland. Private burial service at Fernwood Cemetery, Mill Valley. Memorial donations may be made to the Ascension Greek Orthodox Cathedral or to your local public library.