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Giovanni Thomas "Gio" Maggiore
April 10, 2017

Obituary

Giovanni Thomas “Gio” Maggiore, of Medford, passed away peacefully at his home, surrounded by his loving family, on Monday, April 10th. He was 6.

Gio was born on June 5, 2010 to Chris and Maya (Graffeo) Maggiore. As an infant Chris and Maya knew that Gio was special. He had a personality that would capture you and a laugh that could melt your heart.

Gio’s laugh stayed with him as he grew and he was a very talkative child. Gio was a very determined and witty little boy, an old soul in a way, Gio enjoyed the finer things in life, or as he would call it “fancy”. He loved to wear his “fancy pants”. Gio also loved to cook and aspired to become a chef and open his own restaurant. His vision was to be named, “Gio’s Restaurant Fancy”. With love and support, his family stood by him with positive encouragement. He later was given the opportunity to be a chef for a day at a local Tewksbury restaurant, where they made Gio’s restaurant come true. Fitted with his red chef’s coat, which was his favorite color, he was able to take his picture in front of his very specially made restaurant sign.

Gio always loved his trips to the grocery store, especially Market Basket. Word got around that he loved his food shopping trips and Market Basket Woburn honored him, as he proclaimed, “manager” for the day. He went around to all the different departments, talking with all the associates and trying new things.

His love for food was great. If you asked him what his favorite foods were he’d say, chick peas, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and most of all watermelon! He and Maya would have Watermelon Tuesdays, every week after his long day of hospital appointments, and he loved every minute of it.

Along with Gio’s love for fanciness, he also wanted to be famous. He loved to take the opportunity to tell people about his special heart. His family worked closely with the organization, “Its My Heart New England” and would often participate in fundraisers and charity walks. Gio’s family created “Team Giovanni” which they are proud of. His yearning for fame was achieved through Team Giovanni, where everyone knew him as Gio. His friends and family then created the hash-tag: #gioisawesome to show how they felt about him. His family will always have the memories of Gio’s Make-A-Wish trip to Walt Disney World in Florida, his special send off by American Airlines and the news broadcast of his special send off. Gio was famous just how he wanted to be.

His family will always cherish the memories of reading with Gio, listening to him sing and make up the words to the song as he went, and being in the presence of his infectious, lovable, sincere personality, which won the hearts of many. #gioisawesome

Gio was the beloved son of Christopher and Maya (Graffeo) Maggiore and the dear brother of Carmen Maggiore, all of Medford. He was the loving grandson of Anthony and Bernadette Graffeo as well as Stephen and Karen Lavin, all of Medford. Gio is also survived by his great-grandparents as well as many loving aunts, uncles and cousins.

His funeral will be from the Dello Russo Funeral Home, 306 Main Street, Medford, on Saturday, April 15th at 9AM followed by a funeral blessing celebrated in St. Raphael Church, 512 High Street, Medford, at 10AM. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Visiting hours will be held on Friday from 4 through 8PM. Services will conclude with interment at Oak Grove Cemetery, Medford.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Gio's name (#gioisawesome) may be sent to: It's My Heart New England, P.O. Box 111, Danvers, MA 01923 or www.itsmyheartnewengland.org.

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Dello Russo Funeral Service
306 Main Street
Medford, MA 02155
781-396-9200