Jean Marie Morabito November 2, 1920 – March 14, 2015

Jean Marie Morabito passed away in Laguna Hills on March 14, 2015 at the age of 94. Born on November 2, 1920, in Ragusa, Sicily, to Giuseppe and Assunta DiStefano, the second child of five daughters.

Jean came to America in 1923. She attended school in Youngstown, Ohio. During high school and afterwards, Jean worked in her uncle’s grocery business. Upon her marriage to Joseph Morabito in 1944, she worked with him in his family’s grocery in nearby Niles, Ohio. Sons Sam and Joseph (Joe) were born in Youngstown.

In 1958, the family moved to California, where Jean worked at the Broadway Department Store until she retired at 65. Some years later Jean and husband Joseph moved to a retirement community in Mission Viejo, California.

Jean’s life centered on faith, family and food. She found strength in her deep Catholic faith and was a devoted mother to Sam and Joe. She loved to cook and bake; nobody left her home hungry, or without more delicious food to enjoy later on.

Jean is survived by her sons Sam Morabito (wife Hilu) and Joseph Morabito (wife Patricia); her four grandchildren Christopher Morabito, Brian Morabito (Jennifer), Jennifer Morabito Trussell (Jeff), and Michael Morabito (Courtney); and her great-grandchildren Silas Trussell and Moana Morabito. Also surviving Jean are her sister Mary Melia, sister-in-law Irene Jennings; and seven nieces and nephews.

Jean was predeceased by her husband of 54 years, Joseph Morabito; sisters Virginia, Carmel and Josephine, and one nephew.

Vigil will be held at O’Connor Mortuary in Laguna Hills on Friday, March 20 at 7:00 p.m. Funeral Mass will take place at St. Kilian Catholic Church in Mission Viejo on Saturday, March 21 at 11:00 a.m., followed by interment at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Hollywood Hills.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly suggests donations in Jean’s memory to St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, or Casa Teresa in Orange, California.