Joseph Manganaro

Joseph (Giuseppe) “Joe” Manganaro, of Palo Alto, CA, left us on August 12, 2022. He was 89. Joseph was born April 7, 1933 in Valguarnera, Sicily, and immigrated to the United States with his parents, Antonio and Maria Grazia, and sister Maria in 1946 at the age of 13. The family settled in Brooklyn, New York. Joseph attended Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan and the City College of New York, where he received a Bachelor of Science. He received his Master’s in Civil Engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1962. He worked at the Brooklyn Navy Shipyard until it closed in 1965.

While working at the Shipyard, Joe completed a fellowship at UC Berkeley, and fell in love with the Bay Area. After the Navy Shipyard closed, he moved to San Mateo and began working as a Civil Engineer at the Hunter’s Point Naval Shipyard. Joseph also worked at SRI, a research institute, where he conducted ship analysis for the Department of the Navy and research on ship building and vulnerabilities. Joseph was a member of and received awards including from the Society of Sigma XI and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.

In 1978, he married Judith A. Lookabill and the couple were active members of the Palo Alto community. In 1985, Joe established and ran an investment company, Capital Appreciation Investments.

Joseph loved tennis and played for decades. In the 1980s, he was a founding member of the “Termites,” an enthusiastic, fun-loving group of senior men who regularly played doubles tennis at a local middle school in Palo Alto and who enjoyed dinner gatherings together. He was also an ardent cat lover and took great care of his cats, Micia, Scampi and Dino.

Joseph is survived by his wife, Judith A. Lookabill of Palo Alto; sister, Maria Giulianetti, of San Mateo, CA; niece Luisa Giulianetti of Kensington, CA; nephew David Giulianetti of San Mateo; great-niece Siena Bense of Kensington; and great- nephews Matteo Bense of Kensington and Marco and Diego Giulianetti of San Mateo.

A memorial service in his honor will be held on Saturday, October 15 at 2:00 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, California. In lieu of flowers donations may be made in his name to the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA in San Mateo CA.