John Mancuso

The man known to many in our community of Laguna Beach as “Mr. Giovanni,” John Carmen Mancuso, began his life in Hastings, Penn., Nov. 6, 1932. His parents, Michele Mancuso and Carmela Todaro, immigrated to the U.S. at the turn of the century from Grotte, Sicily. He was the eighth of nine children.

After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. There, he served as a communications operator for two years. Upon his return to the states, Mancuso and his family first moved to Oceanside and then to Los Angeles, where he met his wife, Mary Jo Hasenbank. The couple settled in Gardena.

After earning a degree from L.A. City College, he embarked on the first of his many business ventures, as a purveyor of poultry and seafood at Evergreen Poultry in Los Angeles.

In 1969, he and his wife Mary Jo opened Giovanni Italian Delicacies in North Laguna. They earned a reputation for serving high quality, affordable Southern Italian comfort food, from beef dips to meatball sandwiches, pizza and pasta. In addition, there were imported Italian groceries, a full-service deli, and a catering menu.

Even more important, many young men and women attending school at Laguna Beach High in the ‘70s found their first jobs at Giovanni’s. Those kids were more than employees; they became members of the Giovanni family.

The location on North Coast Highway remained open until December 1978. Soon after, John Mancuso opened a newer incarnation of Giovanni’s on Broadway Avenue near Main Beach, but the Laguna Beach institution closed its doors forever on Dec. 31, 1985.

Until his retirement in 2002, Mancuso was a distributor and facilitator for the Southern California Lottery. He loved painting, jazz music, and all things Italian. His life-long passion for food and cooking never diminished. In his final days, he was in the kitchen puttering with a new grinder for cheese and meats.

After a long bout with cancer, Mancuso died in his Laguna home on Jan. 14, 2015. He leaves behind a heartbroken and grieving family.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Jo Mancuso; four daughters and their families, Margaret Mancuso and her partner Robert Millard, Stephanie Andrews and her husband Douglas “Skip” Andrews, Susan Bartsch and her husband Joel Bartsch, and Joan Mancuso; and grandchildren Jami Patrice Andrews, Tristan Alexander Bartsch, Ashley Ann Andrews, Margaret “Markie” Elaine Hughes, Caitlin Michaela Bartsch, and Kyle Chandler Bartsch.