Obituary of Giacinta Persico

Giacinta " Gina " Taranto Persico, 79, of Manalapan, passed away peacefully on December 18, 2015 at Jersey Shore Medical Center. Born on February 26, 1936 in the small fishing village of Gallico Marina, Reggio Calabria, Italy, she was the daughter of the late Carlo Taranto and Santina Basile. She grew up in Italy and at the age of 16 she traveled to America (New York City) with her father Carlo to begin her new life. As a young woman she worked in the garment industry in Brooklyn, NY alongside other young Italian girls with whom she remained lifetime friends. Gina married Mario Persico in 1959 and raised her young family in Brooklyn. In 1981 she and Mario moved the entire family to Maryland and established Rusticana Pizza in the Shoal Creek Mall in Cambridge. She helped run the business with her husband, children, and her son-in-law, Tony. She retired from the pizza business shortly after her husband's death in 2003 and moved to Manalapan, NJ to be near her youngest grandchildren. She would often visit the eastern shore and enjoyed catching up with longtime friends and customers in the Easton Rusticana Restaurants- it was not uncommon to hear her in the kitchen giving the employees some prep directions and they would say, "Grandma's Back. " Her greatest joy in life was her family, in particular, her nine grandchildren whom she helped raise. She enjoyed cooking the family specialties -pizza, pasta and eggplant. She is survived by her daughter, Joann Persico Genova and son in law, Tony of Easton, Maryland; two sons, John Persico and wife Dina of Ocean City, MD and Mario Persico, Jr. and wife Laura of Manalapan, NJ; sister, Maria Taranto Morelli of Easton; brother, Nicola Taranto of Reggio Calabria, Italy.; and she was the Nonna to nine grandchildren, Anthony, Vanessa and Marco Genova, Nicholas, Christina and Jonathan Persico, abd Alexandra, Christopher and Vittoria Persico. Visitation will be held on Monday, Dec. 21, from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. at Freeman Manalapan-Marlboro Funeral Home, 344 Route 9 North Manalapan, NJ 07726. A funeral Liturgy will be celebrated on Tuesday, December 22, at Saint Joseph's Catholic Church in Millstone Township, NJ, at 10 am followed by entombment at Springhill Memory Gardens, Hebron, Maryland.