Obituary: Giovanna Malangone Ambrusco, 82, Of Orange

ORANGE, CT — (From West Haven Funeral Home): Giovanna Malangone Ambrusco of Orange, passed away peacefully at her home on December 23, 2022. She was 82.

Giovanna was predeceased by John Ambrusco Sr., her devoted husband of almost 50 years. She was also predeceased by her sisters Palma Cappetta and Elisabetta Cappetta and five brothers Antonio, Alessandro, Mario, Giuseppe and Gerardo Malangone.

Giovanna is survived by her daughter Lucia Aschettino and husband Raffaele of Branford, and her son John Ambrusco Jr. and wife Denise of Milford; grandchildren Marisa and Sofia Aschettino and Ava and John Edward Ambrusco III; sisters Donnatella Rubino and Lucia Germana, and brother Carmine Malangone. She leaves behind her loving partner, Aldo Pappa.

Giovanna, daughter of the late Sabato and Lucia Rubino Malangone, was born in Acerno in the province of Salerno, Italy on December 20, 1940. At 20, she traveled alone from her small Italian hill town to seek opportunities in America. Giovanna married John Ambrusco on June 22, 1962 and built a life as a loving wife and mother of two in New Haven.

Devoted to her extended family as well, she worked with John’s help to bring her mother and nine siblings from their small town in Italy, helping them gain a solid foothold to start their lives anew in America.

Driven to do more outside the home, Giovanna began working in restaurants. Drawing on her courage, wit and hard work, she opened three successful restaurants with family over the years: Pizza Vesuvio, Santa Lucia Restaurant and Vesuvio II in West Haven. She was proud to use her savings to buy the family’s first home on Frank Street in New Haven, and with her entrepreneurial spirit she bought and sold other properties from then on.

Both in the business world and her personal life, Giovanna was known for her style and elegance, her boundless energy, a vivacity that drew people to her, and a strong determination to defend what is right.

After retiring from the restaurant business, Giovanna followed her passions to live life fully, traveling with her family to the Caribbean, Aruba, Paris, Barcelona, Italy and beyond, studying voice and taking piano lessons, and singing in both solo recitals and choir performances with the Gateway Chorale. Giovanna challenged herself to learn new skills, for example yoga, or more intensively when she studied to become a Certified Phlebotomy Technician and interned at the VA Hospital. She enjoyed opera, took modern dance lessons, loved to go dancing, and was always the life of the party.

Over the years, Giovanna nurtured a wide range of friendships with abundant warmth and generosity. A congregant of St. Anthony Church in New Haven, Giovanna received their “Mother of the Year” award in 2004. She was nominated and inducted in 2013 into the “National Women’s Hall of Fame, Book of Lives and Legacies.”

With candor and courage Giovanna told her life story in a series of interviews published in 2017 as a book, “Finding My Voice, A Memoir.” What emerges is a portrait of a woman who overcame difficult and challenging times and turned them into a life-long series of achievements, who felt deep pride and love for her children and grandchildren, and who lived life every day to the fullest.

Giovanna will be long remembered and sorely missed.

Donations can be made to The Get in Touch Foundation, 70 West River Street, Box 5, Milford, CT 06460 by mail, or online at www.getintouchfoundation.org.

For more information and to leave online condolences, visit West Haven Funeral Home here.