Joseph S. Annino

Joseph Salvatore Annino died at age 90 at his home in La Jolla, California surrounded by his family. Joe grew up in Brooklyn, New York to Sicilian parents, Rosina (nee Circo) and Francesco Annino, Joe is survived by his siblings, Josephine Stricker; Alfredo and Zen; George and Charlotte; and Salvatore and Peter Dennis. He was preceded in death by his older brother Dominic. He is also survived by his wife of 63 years, Mary (nee Osgood) and children Frank and Janet, Carol and Stan; and Joe and Micki, as well as his four beloved grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Joe's childhood was filled with big family meals, games of stickball in the street, weekend movies, laughter and love. In school, Joe excelled in mathematics, making it possible for him to attend Brooklyn Tech. After a short stint at Brooklyn College, he, along with two friends, left New York for Los Angeles. They rented an apartment in Santa Monica, purchased a car for $100, acquired restaurant jobs, and enrolled at Santa Monica City College. Joseph later transferred to USC. Upon graduation, he worked briefly for North American Aviation before accepting a job offer from the UCLA Computer Center, where he met the love of his life, Mary. A turning point in the young couple's life occurred when Joe took a leave of absence from UCLA to work at Euratom in Ispra, Italy. Joe and Mary had a lovely house on Lago Maggiore, where they entertained friends who christened their home "Spiaggia Annino" (Annino Beach). Shortly after Franklyn was born, they returned to California where Joe began a 33-year career at a software startup called CACI.

Joe enjoyed travel, tennis, beach picnics and films. After retiring, Joe embraced his Italian heritage by devoting himself to studying Italian, joining the boards of the Italian Institute of Culture in the House of Italy in Balboa Park, and co-founding the San Diego Italian Film Festival. He was responsible for acquisitions, researching Italian films and contacting distributors, many of whom he met at the Venice Film Festival. Joe and Mary would attend the festival every year. Joe eventually left the SDIFF to establish another local film festival called Cinema Little Italy. Sharing the best of Italian cinema with the community gave Joe so much pleasure.

With the help of a friend who was an Italian lawyer, Joe was able to acquire Italian passports for himself, Mary, his three children, their spouses and his grandchildren. His greatest hope for his family was that they pursue a life that included those things that gave him the most satisfaction in life: language study and travel.