John M. Cirino

Today we honor John Michael Cirino, a first-generation Italian-American who was born on October 30, 1932 in Cleveland, Ohio to Lucia and Antonio Cirino, and who died peacefully at home in his sleep on October 25, after a long battle with cancer.

His adored and loving wife Barbara, his dear sisters, Angie Mascaro and Rose Such, his beloved and loving children, Paul, Casey, Ken, and Judy are all bereft at his passing, and sustain the hope that he will be reunited in the afterlife with David, the son who predeceased him. Angelica, Brittany, Catharine, Enzo, Gianni, Jessica, Matthew, and Michael all are devastated by the loss of their grandfather, who was their friend and confidant and was so proud of all of their achievements.

Family and friends knew John as a kind, soft-spoken, and generous man. He was a mentor and great role model to many. His brilliant mind and shrewd investment sense led to his great success in business and caused many to seek his advice, which was never self-serving. He was a wonderful listener and a loyal and thoughtful friend.

As a child of immigrants, John studied and worked hard to build a legacy for his family. He earned his undergraduate and MBA degrees from Ohio University. In later years, he would earn an Executive Masters degree from Harvard. His first job out of college was with Ford Motor Company in their first-ever MBA rotational program. Quickly proving his worth, he became the youngest General Manager of a Ford plant in the company’s history, the Mustang plant.

A former colleague from the MBA rotation program introduced John to an entrepreneur with various business interests in the office products and manufacturing sector in New York, who recruited John away from Ford to become General Manager of a small wood manufacturing concern that was controlled by this entrepreneur’s family. Again, John distinguished himself, rising to the presidency of the company and becoming an equity partner in the firm. After this operation was consumed by a disastrous fire, John rebuilt the facility as an office furniture manufacturer.

Over the years, John expanded the business into a premier high-end brand in the office furniture sector, Hardwood House. He also ran subsidiaries in the chair business (Jansko & Cochran Chair) and the filing cabinet business (Filex). In the 1980s, when corporate raiders were consolidating various industries, John was able to profitably sell the businesses one by one. At one point, John said he was poised to sell the entire company to the infamous Michael Millken, but the deal collapsed in the eleventh hour.

With Jansko, which was based on property that is now part of Fort Lauderdale airport, as the one unsold concern, John and Barbara decided to move to Coral Springs, Florida. When John sold Jansko in the late 80s, he and Barbara began a semi-retirement with various passive investments, but then acquired an apartment complex and adjacent land in Coral Springs in which they took an active role, rehabilitating the building from bankruptcy, refilling it with tenants, and ultimately successfully selling it. They also sold the adjacent property to a developer, thus allowing them to really retire and begin their travels.

His retirement at age 55 enabled him to pursue his hobbies and interests. John was an avid tennis player until his first bout with the cancer made playing impossible. He loved to travel, taking the love of his life, Barbara, around the world twice, with frequent shorter journeys in between. During the first round-the-world junket, a month-long adventure on the Concorde, allowed him the great joy of being in the cockpit with the pilots when the plane took off. His love of sports cars led him to participate in the Richard Petty Experience and the Andretti Racing School adventures as well as taking a 3-day intensive driving course. In addition to his daily study of the Wall Street Journal and the CNBC ticker, he was a lifelong Cleveland Browns and Indians fan.

He loved fine dining, Italian food, chocolate, Key Lime pie, his Porsche Carrera and more recently his Maserati. Most of all, he loved giving Barbara everything she ever dreamed of and taking care of his family.

John’s Catholic upbringing helped him to become the honest and ethical man we all knew. He sought to always do the right thing, to see the best in people, to refrain from holding a grudge or saying unkind or belittling things about others – and he succeeded.

His devotion to the Catholic Church was apparent in his philanthropy. He felt that he was privileged to be in a position to help those who were less fortunate, and was always willing to help out a friend, a family member, and sometimes people he had just met. But the scope of his generosity was both local and international.

In Coral Springs, John served St. Andrews Catholic Church as an active member of the finance committee and donated generously toward the building of the lobby and installation of the elevator at the church school, which grandchildren Brittany and Matthew attended.

While daughter Casey was a student at University of Florida, John and Barbara set up an endowment scholarship fund in the College of Architecture and Design to assist underprivileged but highly motivated students to pursue careers in a field in which both John and Barbara had been quite successful. They also served on the school’s advisory council.

After John’s first cancer (Hodgkins Disease) was successfully treated, the family decided to get involved and give back, choosing the UM Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center as the place to direct their efforts . Not only was this a treatment center, but it was also a teaching hospital, training doctors for the future and learning from its patients. Their grateful generosity resulted in their recognition as Grand Founders.

Their interaction in the church with Monsignor James, who expressed to them his lifelong dream of building a hospital to care for the destitute in India, led them to establish the Kuttanad Medical Service Development Fund, LLC, a 501c3 whose proceeds have gone to making this dream a reality. Through their own contributions and funds raised from others who had been touched as profoundly by Monsignor James as were John and Barbara, there is now a 400-bed hospital in Kuttanad, Kerla, India.

All in all, our beloved John can truly be said to have lived an exemplary life, and we are all enriched for having known and loved him.

The funeral mass will be held on Wednesday, October 30th, 12:30pm at St. Gabriel Catholic Church, 731 N. Ocean Blvd., Pompano Beach, FL. Entombment will follow at Queen of Heaven Mausoleum in North Lauderdale, FL. Arrangements were made by: Kraeer Funeral Home and Cremation Center, 200 N. Federal Hwy., Pompano Beach, FL 33062. Phone: 954-941-4111. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations to Kuttanad Medical Service Development Fund, LLC (a hospital serving the destitute in Kerla, India) or Saint Gabriel's/St. Vincent de Paul serving the poor and homeless in Broward County would be greatly appreciated.

PLEASE DO NOT SEND FLOWERS.