Johnny Cirica

Our beloved Johnny was born in San Francisco to Francesco and Luisa, both immigrants from Italy. His mother passed away when he was only two years old and he was raised mostly by his older sister Nancy, along with several of his family members including his Nonna Celeste and Zia Elena. He was very close with his cousins Albert, Mary, Tina, Anthony and Sister Stephens.

In 1937 he saw Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and fell in love. One of his life’s many highlights was meeting and befriending Adriana Caselotti, the “voice of Snow White”. While his desire would have been to become a Disney animator, his artistic talent landed him a long career at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company as a commercial artist. He loved his job and said, “he never worked a day in his life.”

John leaves behind children Steve and Stacy from his first wife, Sally Simpson (deceased). John remarried the love of his life, Liz, and became father to Paula, Virginia, and Paul David (deceased). This became an enduring family that is close today because of the love lessons taught to us by our Dad. This family continues to grow and now includes 11 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. One of the greatest treats of having “Grandpa Johnny” was that every child would grow up with custom bedroom Disney artwork, thanks to Dad. And of course, whenever someone would visit Grandpa Johnny, there was the opportunity to watch Disney, either at home or in the theater; Dad was always looking forward to his next viewing of Snow White. As Dad would say, “I’ve never had it so good”.