Falmouth MA
January 6, 2016
John V. Magnani, of Falmouth, MA, died peacefully on January 6, 2016 at the age of 81, at Royal Nursing Center in Falmouth, where he received the tender, loving and compassionate care of the staff members after a long illness. His life was spent in service to his God and his community.
Born in North Attleboro, he attended St. Charles Seminary and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and went on to receive bachelors and masters degrees in theology from Saint Mary's University and was ordained in 1959. John served the Fall River Diocese for 31 years. After leaving the priesthood, he was appointed Director of the Falmouth Senior Center in 1993, a job which he held for 18 years.
John contributed freely of his time to many volunteer organizations. He rose early every morning to go to the Senior Center at 6 am to prepare coffee for the AA meeting there. He was named “Citizen of the Year” by the Falmouth Chamber of Commerce in 2000. He was a long time member and treasurer of the Falmouth Cable Television Board of Directors; a regular participant in preparing meals for Around the Table; active in the Massachusetts Councils on Aging, Elder Services of Cape Cod, a charter member of the Falmouth Lions Club and a Town Meeting member. For several years he participated in the annual Walk for the Homeless from Provincetown to Falmouth. He was also a Justice of the Peace and performed many marriages in this role.
In 1990 John married Judith Powers Robbins and became a beloved mentor to her children, a close friend to their spouses, and a favorite grandfather and great grandfather to the next generation: Russell and Suzanne Robbins, Mary Ellen and Richard Swain, Nancy Robbins Taylor and Eric Turkington, Galen and Megan Robbins, Jane Tassinari, all of Falmouth, and Thomas Robbins and his partner Renee Reardon of Plymouth; ten grandchildren: James, Russell, Danielle, Ashley, Jennifer, Michael, Paul, Timothy, Anne, and Clara; and eight great grandchildren: Lauren, Jacob, Wyatt, Kate, Francesca, Hayden, Alyssa, and Leighana, who all survive him. John told his doctor that when he married Judy, her children adopted him, and we did!
John’s parents, John and Francesca Magnani, came to this country from Sestola, Italy, and John greatly enjoyed visiting this small mountain village for the first time in 2007, where he received a warm welcome from a still living aunt and uncle and a large contingent of cousins, all named Magnani.
In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his brother Charles Magnani and is survived by his sister, Ann Nussbaum of Oceanside, California, her husband James, and nephews Peter and Conrad Nussbaum and Steven and Mark Magnani.