Ronald Jack Laurenzo

1949-2021

On Saturday, March 20, Ronald Jack Laurenzo lost his valiant battle with brain cancer. His final hours were spent with his wife Tracy, his three children, Julian, Lauren and Chanel, and numerous loving family members by his side.

Jack was born in Houston, Texas, to parents Maria Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo and Domenic Thomas Laurenzo. After attending Annunciation Catholic School, Jack went on to distinguish himself at St. Thomas High School. A proud Eagle from the Class of 1968, he maintained a perfect grade point average while being a multisport athlete, excelling in football, baseball, and track and field. For his athletic accomplishments, Jack was inducted into the St. Thomas Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.

After high school, Jack received a football scholarship to Rice University, then transferred after two years to Boston College where he finished his last season 9-2 in 1971. After graduating from Boston College, he accepted a prestigious fellowship to study in the Department of Urban Studies and City Planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jack's classmates and teammates became cherished friends during his time in school. He kept in touch with many of them throughout his life.

While at MIT, Jack received a phone call that would change the course of his career. In 1973, with a little borrowed money, Jack's mother Ninfa opened a small restaurant in the family's struggling tortilla factory. She enlisted the help of her daughter Phyllis, Jack's older brother Roland, and had to ask Jack to leave school to help out as well.

His mother, lovingly known as "Mama Ninfa" throughout Texas, went on to become Houston's first lady of Mexican cooking. Jack was a powerful force in collaborating with his family to establish the iconic Ninfa's restaurants brand and became a pioneer in expanding the Texas Mexican food frontier.

More than two decades later, Jack left the legacy of the successful Ninfa's food dynasty to establish his own identity. An accomplished chef, he launched Jack Laurenzo's restaurant in 1996, a nod to his Italian American roots. He also consulted with many other emerging restaurants during this time. Following these experiences, he became a senior executive at Gourmet Ranch, which was later acquired by broadline food distributor Jake's Finer Foods.

Jack was a high performing sales consultant at Jake's from 2011 to 2020. He was recognized for his accomplishments by the company's CEO, who said Jack personified Jake's mission of "customer first and integrity."

Jack enjoyed travelling the world, visiting Eastern and Western Europe several times. He climbed the pyramids of Machu Picchu, Peru, and in 2019 he realized his lifelong dream and traced the steps of Jesus in the Holy Land. Most of all, he loved spending time with family and friends, and made many happy memories with them at concerts, movies and sports events. He ate lunch daily with his beloved brother-in-law Tony Mandola. Jack accompanied Tony's mother, Grace Mandola, to mass every Saturday evening until she passed in 2010.

Jack will be remembered for his deep faith, wit, intellect, and boundless energy. He was particularly proud about his 18 years of sobriety and rigorously attended AA meetings each day. He was a beacon in the AA community, mentoring and inspiring many throughout the years.

Jack is survived by his wife Tracy; his children Julian, Lauren and husband Dr. Ike Nwanonyiri, and Chanel; his siblings Roland and wife Blanca, Thomas and wife Gina, Phyllis and husband Tony Mandola, and Gino and wife Mary; his stepsons Max Rizk and Noah Saldivar; his daughter-in-law Jennifer Stoker; his son-in-law Dalton Gerold; and his grandchildren Gabriel, Lennox, Maddox, Liam, Ava Marie, and Echo.

Jack will be missed by his numerous cousins, nephews, nieces, and other loved ones from the Laurenzo, Rodriguez, Mandola, Santos, and Castaneda families.

He is preceded in death by his parents Domenic Thomas and Maria Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo, and his nephew Rocco Laurenzo.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions in Jack Laurenzo's name be directed to the Ninfa Laurenzo Scholarship Fund at https://www.tnlsfhouston.org/donate.