Grazia “Grace” Sidoti (nee Vinci)
July 15, 1933 – November 22, 2024
Age 91.5
Born in a small mountain top village in northern Sicily, Grazia entered this world at home surrounded by family and left this world the same way, surrounded by family.
She and her brother Carmelo (who also just recently passed away) lived a simple, rural life with their mother, a homemaker, and their father, who was a farmer and shepherd. As an adult, her brother left for Germany, and Grazia at age 24 left for America, after having married Cologero.
They both embraced their new countries, learning new languages and making new friends, while bringing their food traditions with them. Our uncle Carmelo became a chef, establishing a Michelin-rated restaurant in Berlin. Mom became a home cook of everything delicious, at times cooking large pots of sauce too heavy for her to lift and in quantities to keep a barracks happy. She was a bread baker and pasta maker extraordinaire; no one ever left her home hungry.
Mom loved to shop, and never found a sale she didn’t embrace. She enjoyed fashion, jewelry and all things sparkling… and was known by her first name at the Estee Lauder counter. Her greatest joy in later years, though, came from being a doting nonna to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren who all were bello and bella to her.
Mom was deeply religious with many saints and devotions at her fingertips. She was the “go-to” prayer lady with a saint for every cause and a prayer for every need. Strong and proud, she was a 50-year cancer survivor. Through the years she provided never-ending love and encouragement to her family, and the love was returned tenfold to her. She was married to our dad for 34 years, widowed for 33. She is survived by us, her three adoring children, Salvatore (Richard), Gino, and Rita (Nick), as well as many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Family will receive friends at The Community of St. Peter, 7100 Euclid Avenue (with ample parking off East 71st Street) from 9-11 AM Saturday, November 30, 2024, with a mass of Christian burial to follow at 11 AM. Interment Holy Cross Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, family suggests a donation in her name to either The American Cancer Society https://www.cancer.org/donate.html,
The Greater Cleveland Food Bank https://support.greaterclevelandfoodbank.org/site/Donation2?df_id=1520&1520.donation=form1&mfc_pref=T,
or The Community of St. Peter. https://www.communityofstpeter.org/give-old.
We wish to thank everyone at UH Parma Medical Center and Hospice of the Western Reserve for their compassionate care.
Ti penseremo ogni giorno per il resto della nostra vita.
