Giovanna "Jennie" Perillo, 101, of Warwick, died peacefully on Saturday, September 23, 2017, at the Philip Hulitar Inpatient Center in Providence.  She was the beloved wife of the late Joseph Perillo who died in 1985.

Born in 1916 in West Warwick, Jennie was the eldest of four daughters born to the late Santillo and Maria L. (DiPadua) Pietrantuono. The family returned to Italy in 1921; but in 1937 Jennie left her parents and sisters behind and sailed to America, the land of her birth, and settled in the Natick section of West Warwick with her mother's brother and sister-in-law (Umberto and Assunta DiPadua).

Jennie was employed by Imperial Knife and the Speidel Corporation early in her career but left the workforce shortly after she married in 1945 to raise her three children.  She later found employment in the local factories but found her true passion, cooking, while working as a chef in two family-owned restaurants.  In a later career, Jennie took her passion for cooking to the State of Rhode Island where she was employed as a dietary aid at the Eleanor Slater Hospital for twenty-two years until her retirement.  She enjoyed gardening, cooking, sewing, traveling and spending time with her family.

Giovanna is survived by her loving children: Vito Perillo of Seattle, WA; Cindy Sauer (Herb), of Naples, FL and Cranston, RI; and David Perillo of Coventry; a sister: Ada Marciaro of Rome, Italy; nephew, Michael DeSimone of West Warwick; niece, Leondina (Lee) DeSimone Giusti of Cranston; five cherished grandchildren: David Perillo, Scott Perillo, Christine Perillo, Leanora Perillo and Xina Alvarez; seven great-grandchildren and three great, great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews and their families in Italy.

She was the loving sister of the late Anna DiMarco and Diomira DeSimone.  

Her Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, October 6, 2017 at 10:30 AM at the Immaculate Conception Church, 237 Garden Hills Drive, Cranston. Relatives and friends are invited and may call on Friday, October 6, 2017, from 8:30 AM - 10 AM in THE URQUHART-MURPHY FUNERAL HOME, 800 Greenwich Avenue, Warwick.  

In lieu of flowers, gifts in her memory to Scandinavian Home Assisted Living, Cranston, RI, will be appreciated.

Jennie and her late husband Joseph will be entombed on Saturday, October 7, 2017, at 11 AM in the RI Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 301 South County Trail, Exeter.  Military honors will be bestowed upon Joseph in recognition of his honorable service in the US Army during WWII.  

 

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