John J. Giovannone ’72

John died Sept. 26, 2013, at home in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., with his wife, Cyndi, and immediate family by his side. He was 63.

John — better known to classmates as “Bananas” or “G” — arrived at Princeton from Loyola High School in Los Angeles as a single-wing center, the rarest of football specialists of a waning era. When Princeton abandoned the single-wing offense in 1969, John joked that he was the first of our class to be downsized or “obsoleted,” typical of his sunny, ever-optimistic outlook. He played rugby instead of football. John majored in physics and joined other sophomores to reopen Dial Lodge. He was one of the “Little Hall Gang” of junior and senior suitemates.

After Princeton he attended Hastings School of Law and enjoyed a 30-year career as a corporate and securities attorney.

In mid-September, as his suddenly recurring cancer progressed, suitemate John O’Donovan emceed a Skype reunion with classmates Pete Belcher, Fred Ecclestone, Jim Graf, Tim Howard, Matt Man-cuso, Steve Sikora, and Brian Williams, an occasion described as “a lot of stories, a lot of laughter, a lot of love.”

John is survived by Cyndi; son John and his wife, Lauren, and their children, Emma, Izzie, and Jack; son Brian and his fiancée, Autumn; and his daughters, Andrea and Katie.