John William Costello

Died peacefully after a courageous battle of a long illness of 12 years on August 16th 2012. He was preceded in death by his first wife Celine (nee Marindaz), the mother of his 2 children Fabrice and Valere. He is survived by his wife of 41 years Christiane (nee Sabatier), his 2 sons Fabrice and Valere, his sister Rita Kinz, his grandchildren Antoine, Marine and Shean and numerous nephews and nieces on both sides of the Atlantic. John was born in Columbus Ohio to an Irish catholic family and had seven brothers and sisters. He attended Saint Thomas Aquinas High School and Xavier University in Ohio followed by graduate studies at Columbia University New York where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science followed by graduate studies in business administration at the same University. During WW II, he fought in the CBI (Chinese Burma India) theater of operations. Following the war he started a successful career in merchandising as a trainee in the RH Macy's program in New York which brought him to San Francisco in 1962 where he worked for I.Magnin Inc. his last job in the world of merchandising. In the second part of his life John turned his interests to real estate investments where he excelled to the day of his passing. He will be remembered for a fierce love of his country and devotion to his family, an insatiable appetite for life including all things beautiful, a tremendous desire to achieve, a commitment to excellence particularly in the endeavors of business and sport (tennis and ski) and above all he will be remembered by his exquisite elegance in all areas of his life, a love and grasp of foreign cultures, languages and people as well as an unwavering support for those less fortunate than himself either emotionally and or financially. His charismatic, elegant, forceful and generous personality will be missed by many. A Visitation will be held on Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012 from 4pm with a Vigil at 7pm at HALSTED N. GRAY-CAREW & ENGLISH, 1123 Sutter St., SF. A Funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, August 23rd, 2012 at 10:30am at Saint Dominic's Catholic Church 2390 Bush St., SF followed by interment at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, 270 Los Ranchitos Road, San Rafael, CA.

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