John Maniscalco

John Maniscalco, 89, of Jacksonville, FL passed to his eternal home on June 9, 2021.

John grew up in Massapequa on Long Island, New York. As a teenager, he worked as a plumber’s assistant with his father before joining the Navy to serve his country and in search of adventure. As a sailor during the Korean Conflict, he worked in the boiler room aboard the USS Great Sitkin and saw many countries.

When he returned home in 1955, he joined the American Legion as a drummer in the marching band. There, he met a lovely young majorette named Diane, who became his bride in 1958. They settled in Shirley, New York and raised 4 children. John worked primarily as an appliance repair technician, at first in business for himself and later working for Whirlpool until he retired at 65.

John had a great zest for life and avidly pursued many interests. Among his greatest joys were organic gardening, fishing, golf, grilling, large family gatherings, and exploring ways to make things work better with his McGuyver-esque tinkering. He loved music, especially smooth jazz and old-school country. He was a natural-born artist whose talent was evident from an early age. Well liked by everyone he knew, John was known for his sense of humor. Whether it was pulling a funny face or telling a corny joke for the millionth time, evoking a laugh was always a great pleasure for him.

In 1999 John and Diane moved to the Albany, New York area where John came out of retirement to work for the State of New York as a draftsman, finally putting to good use some of his artistic talent. Then, they retired for the second time, moving to Jacksonville, Florida where they have lived for the past 13 years with 3 of their children close by. Here, they joined Christ’s Church in Mandarin, where John was active in the Communion Ministry. He had a great passion for learning and enjoyed the senior classes and fellowship as well as volunteering. To share what he had learned, John wrote a weekly inspirational message that was emailed to an ever-growing list of subscribers. He also wrote poetry, usually about his faith journey and the things he was most passionate about.

In the two months from the first sign of illness until his transition to his eternal home, John’s daily priority was sharing the gospel as much as possible. He looked forward to seeing heaven and expressed a deep desire to see everyone there one day.

John is survived by his wife of 63, years, Diane Maniscalco of Jacksonville, FL; a son, Steven Maniscalco, also of Jacksonville; three daughters, Lynn Erhorn (Craig) of Jacksonville, Lori Collado of Clifton Park, NY and Joanne Maniscalco of Jacksonville; two sisters, Vera Tischler of Dania, FL and Rose Sexton of Deerfield Beach, FL; and four grandchildren, Christopher Maniscalco, Diane Maniscalco, Dana Collado and Nicholas Maniscalco.

Services with military honors will be held at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, June 24, at Jacksonville National Cemetery, 4083 Lannie Rd., Jacksonville, FL 32218.  If attending, please arrive between 10:30 and not later than 10:45 and gather in Lane #2. 

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial donations be made to Christ’s Church, 6045 Greenland Rd., Jacksonville, FL 32258 or online giving at www.christs.church/give.