Obituary of Jean Mercurio

Jean Mercurio passed on Tuesday September 21, 2010. Jean was born in Chiffalo, Algeria in 1927, his father Salvatore Mercurio was born in Capaci, Sicily and his mother Jilorama Crivello was born in Algeria so he was proud of his French Citizenship, and he was a Sicilian at heart. Jean aka John, Frenchie, Juno and Leoni was a remarkable man. His talents were quite varied. His first love was sport fishing via ocean, lake, creek, or river. He easily out fished the fishing guides. He came from a family of commercial fisherman from Algeria. Here in the states he fished commercial from Central America, Mexico, San Diego, San Pedro, Monterey, and Alaska. His other passion was gardening. His fruit trees were truly magnificent to behold. One tree had 5 varieties of plums. He enjoyed growing plants and flowers from seed. If he wasn?t fishing he was gardening or playing bocce. He was considered a pretty tough competitor. He brought laughter and friendly controversy to the courts. The courts will be very quiet without him. To remind you of his other talents was his ability to sew and construct his fishing net. This was an old world art. He retired from granite construction in 1980 having a reputation of a hard and honest worker. Jean was also known for his generosity. He loved sharing with his friends the fruits of his labor via homemade olives, trout, salmon, fruit, salted salmon or salted anchovies and vegetables he picked himself in the Salinas valley. Preceding him in passing were his brothers Pierre, Joseph and Dominic also his sisters Rosalie and Françoise, from Marseilles, France. He leaves his lovely wife Josephine, sons Dominic and Sam (Angeli). Grandchildren: Johnny and Sal (children of Sam and Angeli), Kathryn and Dominic (children of Dominic and Naida). Brother Antoine Mercurio (from Carmel Valley), Angel Rotolo and Rosine Galmas from France. Brother/Sister-in-law: John and Cheryl Pisto, Ray and Betty LaBonte . He also leaves numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and many friends in Monterey and in France. A special thank you to my brother John Pisto (Cheryl) for his thoughtfulness, kindness, and generosity during this difficult time and to my sister Betty LaBonte (Ray) now residing in Monterey who has been there during the tough times. The visitation will start at 4:00pm at Mission Mortuary on Friday September 24 following a Vigil at 7:00pm. The Funeral Mass will be held at 9:30am on Saturday morning, September 25 at the San Carlos Cathedral Any donations made will be to the San Carlos Cathedral Restoration Fund at 500 Church Street, Monterey, CA 93940.