Given Name: Vittorio Giovanni DiGiovanni
Victor “Vic” DiGiovanni passed away at home surrounded by his family. He was 79.
Born in New York City to Angelo and Antonina DiGiovanni, he grew up in an Italian neighborhood in Manhattan called Kip’s Bay. Vic graduated from Charles Evans Hughes High School where he excelled at basketball. In his senior year he was named to the All City Team, an honor that gave him the opportunity to play at Madison Square Garden.
Basketball shaped Vic’s life. After being offered scholarships to some east coast colleges, he took the advice of one of his coaches to enroll in a small junior college in central California. That school was MJC and the coach was Leon Lafaille.
MJC changed the course Vic’s life. (He was inducted into the MJC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014.) There he met his future wife and received a scholarship to Cal Poly (SLO) where he graduated in 1960. His working years were spent at Greyhound Bus Lines in San Francisco where he was in management for 29 years.
Vic’s career was cut short by the onset of rheumatoid arthritis, yet despite poor health he was always happy and upbeat with a positive attitude. He had no complaints and was always “just fine.” He said many times if he could live his life over again he would not change a thing.
The second sport in Vic’s life was golf, and he played for as long as his health allowed. Sports remained a main interest. He was a Detroit Tigers fan (from age 7) and he was a big fan of the Duke University Blue Devils basketball team. He was preparing to watch another season of his favorite high school football team, the Spartans of De La Salle, Concord.
Vic enjoyed all music and especially jazz. Most of all he loved his family: his wife, JoAnn, son Darrell, and daughter-in-law Michelle. His granddaughters Mia and Gianna were the light of his life. They made him so proud. We will miss him very, very much.
Vic was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Adam.
Our family would again like to thank Provident Home Care of Modesto and Covenant Care Hospice of Turlock for their professional and compassionate care for Vic and his entire family.
Memorial contributions may be made to Sacred Heart School Foundation for tuition assistance, P.O. Box 1254, Turlock, CA 95381 or American Autoimmune Related Diseases Assn., Inc., 22100 Gratiot Ave., Eastpointe, MI 48021.
Mass will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Fri., Sep. 4 at Sacred Heart Church, 1200 Lyons Ave., Turlock. Interment will follow at Turlock Memorial Park.
