Madlynn Pizza

Mrs. Madlynn Pizza of Sylvania passed away Sunday November 13, 2011 at Toledo Hospital. She married her sweetheart, Tony Pizza, during the Second World War and lived with his family while he was overseas. She learned how to make marinara, cannoli and pasta to continue the Italian traditions for her husband. She was a seamstress who took great care and pride in sewing her children and grandchildren’s clothes. Totally dedicated to her family, she raised her 4 children and became a surrogate mother to her 6 grandchildren. She provided a home, bedrooms, hugs and lectures to all! Along with her husband she was a member of the Toledo Symphony, the Toledo opera, the Museum of Art, the Ability Center, Garden Club the Toledo Zoological Society and active in fostering in any way the Tony Pizza Scholarship Fund at the University of Toledo Law School. Her husband, Tony died in 2007 of cancer and she became a contributor to the American Cancer Society. She is survived by her sons, Michael (Judy) Pizza, Toby Pizza, grandchildren, Kelly (Rich) Kerner, Dara Degnan, Angela (James) Mowrer, Tony Pizza, Andrew (Lindsay) Schneider and Natalie (Brian) Parris. The 6 great grandchildren are Abigail, Lance, Austin, Alexandra, Camille and Landin. Also surviving is her son-in-law Martin Degnan. She was preceded in death by her daughters, Anita and Camile, her brothers Bill and Tim Gerberich. Friends may call at the Coyle Funeral Home 1770 S. Reynolds Road Friday from 2 through 8 p.m. where services will be at 7 p.m. A family interment will take place Saturday at Resurrection cemetery. Memorials may take the form of a contribution to the American Cancer Society or the charity of the donor’s choice. A FEATURED BLADE OBITUARY: (News article) A homemaker, watercolorist, and seamstress, who was a support to her husband, Anthony, during his 45 years in the Lucas County prosecutor's office, including 20 years as elected prosecutor, Madlynn Pizza died in Toledo Hospital on Sunday, the day before her 86th birthday. She had congestive heart failure, her son, Michael, said. Her husband did not seek re-election as county prosecutor in 1996. In the decade between his retirement and death, the couple regularly attended functions in support of the Toledo Symphony and the Toledo Opera. She took in the annual style show of the Auxiliary to the Ability Center. In those years, she had time for charity, and the couple had time at last to relax. Formerly of South Toledo, the couple moved in the early 1990s to a home on a lake in Springfield Township, akin to having a cottage close to all things familiar, their son said. "He never took vacations. When they retired, they bought a condominium in Florida and spent four or five months [a year there]," their son said. She was born in Galion, Ohio, to Mary and Carl Gerberich and grew up in Mansfield with her late parents and her late brothers, Bill and Tim. Mr. Pizza was in the Army Air Corps during World War II and was on a bus passing through town when he saw her -- and introduced himself. "If he turned to his left, or his buddy was telling a joke, or he was distracted, he would never have seen her," their son, Toby, said. They married within a year, in 1944. While he was away at war, as a navigator in the Pacific Theater, she moved in with his Italian immigrant parents in Toledo -- and learned Italian cooking. Her husband attended Kenyon College and was a graduate of University of Toledo law school. He became a Lucas County assistant prosecutor in 1951 and prosecutor in 1976. "She was happy that he was happy," son Michael said. She liked to cook, and she kept the household running. She became involved with activities at her sons' and daughters' high schools. She went with her husband when he was invited to dinners as part of the job, but she largely left the campaigning to him. "My father was the handshaker, the big smile," son Michael said. "She was very sincere, but far more reserved," he said. As a young woman, she was offered a scholarship to art school in Chicago -- which she said she would have taken "had my father not come along," son Michael said. She later took classes at the Toledo Museum of Art. Her specialty was Impressionist-style landscapes in watercolor, and she gave finished works to family members and friends. Art became an outlet after the Pizzas' daughters died of cancer -- Anita Degnan in 1990 and Camile Celestino in 1996. "My dad was very emotional. She was very stoic," son Michael said. "She started painting more than ever." For years, she made her own clothes and made clothing for her daughters, grandchildren, and friends. "She was a terrific seamstress," son Michael said. She was a supporter of the Tony Pizza scholarship fund at the University of Toledo. Her husband died June 19, 2007.

Madlynn Pizza

November 14, 1925 - November 13, 2011