Josephine T Brojan

Josephine T. Brojan, born Giuseppina Tommasina Cesario and lovingly known as Pina, passed away on March 24, 2026, just days after celebrating her 90th birthday.
Born on March 19, 1936, in San Fili, Italy, Pina lived a life marked by strength, love, and family. As a young girl, she moved with her family to Ethiopia in the early 1940s, where her father, Dante V. Cesario, worked as a skilled cabinetmaker and fine wood craftsman. The family later returned to Italy before beginning a new chapter in the United States.
In May 1956, she came to the United States aboard the SS Independence. After the family settled in Berwyn, Illinois, her father began work at Parenti & Raffaelli, Ltd. as a cabinet maker and craftsman, and her mother, Vincenzina Cesario (née Blasi), worked as a private seamstress specializing in bridal gowns. Pina soon found work at National Boulevard Bank of Chicago in the Wrigley Building on Michigan Avenue.
Not long after arriving in America, she met her husband, Pierre R. Brojan, at an Italian club dinner dance. Their first date was at the Fireman's Ball, and they were married on August 31, 1957, at St. Odilo Church in Berwyn, Illinois. Together they built a life filled with hard work, devotion, and family. While living in the Berwyn and Chicago area, they welcomed their daughters Mary, Janet, and Jackie. On December 27, 1966, after becoming a wife and mother, Pina was naturalized as a United States citizen under the name Josephine T. Brojan.
The family later moved to France when Pierre was transferred there for his work as an accountant, and it was there that their son Philip was born. While living there, all of the children attended the American School of Paris. They later returned to the United States and settled in Westford, Massachusetts, in August 1977. During those years, daughter Mary attended Michigan State University while Pina returned to banking and worked for BayBank in Acton, Massachusetts. She and Pierre enjoyed watching Jackie and Philip play high school sports, and later Jackie play NCAA Division I field hockey, while also loving the chance to watch Janet marry and start a family, welcoming granddaughters Becka and Julie.
After Pierre's retirement in 1989, they moved to Springfield, Illinois, to be closer to family. While living there, Pina worked for Marine Bank and J.P. Morgan Chase before retiring in 2003. She deeply loved living near Mary, Frank, Brittany and Joey, and the time spent close to them brought her enormous joy. They also had the chance to watch Philip play collegiate soccer throughout the Midwest. Later, when Mary and her family moved to the Chicago area, Pina and Pierre eventually settled in Elmhurst, Illinois, where they spent many of their later years together.
Pina was sharp, strong, and full of life. She was trilingual, fluent in Italian, French, and English, and carried herself with a warmth and spirit that people never forgot. She was an extraordinary cook and baker, famous in the family for her homemade potato and ricotta gnocchi, her many family sauces and Southern Italian recipes, and baked favorites like biscotti, Christmas cookies, and Easter bread. During her years in France, she also mastered many wonderful French dishes.
She was known for her endearing accent, her playful and light-hearted spirit, and especially for her unforgettable laugh. It was the kind of laugh that made everyone else smile — joyful and full-bodied, with her shoulders bouncing right along with it.
Above all, Pina loved her family. She carried her roots, traditions, recipes, language, and spirit with her wherever life took her, and she passed those gifts on to the people she loved most. She made sure some of her treasured family recipes were handed down, teaching Philip and her granddaughter Julie how to make them so they would carry on.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Pierre R. Brojan, who passed away on February 24, 2011, and by her parents, Dante V. Cesario and Vincenzina Cesario (née Blasi).
She is survived by her children, Mary Cavallaro and her husband Frank Cavallaro, Janet Turner, Jackie Brojan, and Philip Brojan; her grandchildren, Brittany Cavallaro, Joseph Cavallaro, Becka Turner, Julie Garcia and her husband Andrew Garcia, and Max Brojan and Sam Brojan; her great-grandchildren, Bennett Garcia and Melina "Meli" Rae Josephine Garcia; and her siblings, Franca Mazzuca, Anthony Cesario, Robert Cesario, and John Cesario.
Her family takes comfort in knowing that all of her children and most of her grandchildren were able to be with her on her 90th birthday and surround her with love in the days before her passing. She was also able to see all of her siblings, and many of her nieces and nephews.
A private Celebration of Life and interment will be held for family.