Jerry Ellen Cannizzaro

Jerry Ellen Cannizzaro, artist, mother, homemaker, and teacher, passed away on a crisp, sunny morning, on March 3, 2025. She will be missed by her five children, Maria LoCoco, Suzanne LoCoco, Gilbert LoCoco, Rose Cannizzaro, and Bertina Cannizzaro, as well as her grandchildren, Gilberto DiLorenzo, Gian Luca DiLorenzo, Lucia LoCoco, and Francesca LoCoco, great grandchild, Valentina DiLorenzo, son-in-law’s Michael Acurso and Stuart Johnson, and daughter-in-law, Claire LoCoco. She will also be missed by many friends and extended family. As an only child, the proliferation of her family greatly pleased her.

Jerry Ellen shared her passion for the arts with communities of artists, her five children, and her grandson’s Gilberto and Gian Luca. As a fourth generation Californian, her ancestry fascinated and intrigued her. Long before online platforms, Jerry spent many hours combing through analog data to uncover her roots. She was proud of her Chilean great-great-grandparents who navigated their way to California during the gold rush; proud of her Irish grandfather who was supposed to become a priest but hid a frog in the pulpit and ran away to be a seaman. She was also proud to be part of a long-line of strong women, including her great-great grandmother who bore fifteen children!

Not to be forgotten, Jerry Ellen was instrumental in the founding of LoCoco’s Restaurant, a legacy that continues to be fruitful for several family members, including three generations of LoCoco and DiLorenzo families. She pulled permits and licenses and was involved in the design and construction of the first three locations: Jackson, Terra Linda, and Pleasant Hill. It is said that she taught her husband, Giovanni, and his brothers, Filippo and Nicola how to toss the pizza dough in the air. One of her most memorable contributions was a 10-ft x 30-ft mural of Giovanni’s hometown in Porticello, Sicily, painted at the Pleasant Hill restaurant, that she scaled up from a tiny 4 x 6 postcard, using housepaint and mixing her own colors.

Jerry Ellen was born in Sacramento, California, but lived in many places throughout her childhood, including Oregon and Nevada, which instilled a sense of adventure in Jerry that spurred her own exploration as an adult. She was particularly fond of Tungsten, Nevada, where she lived for a couple of years while in grade school. It was there that she survived Polio, developed life-long friendships, and an affinity for the desert and American Indian history and culture that carried over into adulthood. In her late sixties, she bought an old gas station in Winnemucca, NV, and converted it into an art studio and sanctuary for traveling artists, where she also taught classes.

According to Jerry Ellen’s children, art and family aside, these are some of her favorite things: salami cotta pizza, Acme sourdough bread, almond croissants, and sfogliatelle; actors Viggo Mortenson and Yul Brynner, westerns with strong male leads, the TV series’ the Lone Ranger and Hawaii Five O (especially the opening music!), Cook’s Champagne, and Cal’s Camp Gold!

One of Jerry Ellen’s proudest accomplishments was graduating with a BA in Art from UC Berkeley in 1982. Undoubtably, her marriages to Giovanni LoCoco, and later to, Dominic Cannizzaro, which resulted in the birth of her five children gave her years of joy and infinite pride. Jerry will be remembered as a force to be reckoned with—fiercely independent, and a true non-conformist! Her vivacious spirit, boisterous laugh, quirky sense of humor, and artistic eye will also be remembered.

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