John Grillo

1949 - 2022

John Grillo
September 11,1949 - May 12, 2022
San Jose
John Francis Grillo, 72, passed away peacefully at his San Jose home the morning of May 12th after a courageous battle with cancer.
John was born on September 11, 1949, in Hornell, New York to Salvatore and Ellen Grillo and grew up surrounded by his large family; two brothers, Roy and Frank and many aunts, uncles and cousins. John traveled across the US on train and moved to California when he was 5 years old. His family would settle in Saratoga, California for the remainder of John's childhood. As a boy, John had a great love for football and baseball and played both sports at Westmont High School.
At 18 years old, John enlisted in the Marine Corps and went to Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California, for Boot Camp. He left shortly after he graduated to proudly serve our country in the Vietnam War.
After his service, John returned to California to work various jobs and he started to coach little league. One of the proudest times in his life was when he re-built and opened American Little League in San Jose, California. It quickly became his and his family's second home.
Soon after he began coaching, John met Esther, fell in love, and married her a short three months later. They would remain committed to one another for the rest of his life. John was proud to join Esther's very large Abundiz family where he quickly became Uncle John to many nieces and nephews. John became the loving and devoted father to two daughters, Angie and Monica. He was overjoyed when his daughters found love and was proud to welcome his two sons-in-law, Scott and Daniel, into the family. John morphed into a doting Papa as his loving family continued to grow with the birth of his five grandchildren.
John began working at Frontier Ford in the mid 1980s and found himself blessed enough to retire early after only 20 years of service.
John began his transformation into Santa Claus in 2006 shortly after his first grandson Nick was born. He was Santa every year for the next 13 years and thousands of children were blessed to have spoken and sat on the lap of Santa John.
John enjoyed hanging out with his family and hearing laughter fill the house. When he was younger, he loved to golf with his friends and family. He looked forward to hanging out at the coffee shop with his friends every morning. He loved catching a game in person whenever he could, and everyone knew better than to call him when the 49ers were playing, and he was watching them on tv. He was a diehard San Francisco 49ers and Giants fan. He found peace outdoors, particularly by the ocean and spent his last birthday looking out over Santa Cruz Beach with his wife, children, sons-in-law, and grandchildren.
John will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and Godchildren.
John is survived by his wife, Esther Grillo, two daughters, Angie Bowers and Monica Bertron, two sons-in-law, Scott Bowers and Daniel Bertron, five grandchildren, Nicholas, Katarina, Lillian, Brock and Luke, his brother Frank Grillo, his sister-in-law Colleen Grillo, nephews Jeff and Frank Jr. Grillo, nieces Theresa, Marie, and Rosalie and their families.
There will be a service to honor his life on:
Monday, June 6th:
Oak Hill Cemetery San Jose
12:00pm-3:00pm - Viewing
4:00pm-8:00pm - Rosary and Eulogy
Tuesday, June 7th:
11:00am - Mass at St. Leo's the Great Parish
Immediately after caravan to Oak Hill Cemetery
Military Service at Grace Chapel outside in front of the Mausoleum at Oak Hill

To send flowers for the service please have them delivered to Oak Hill in San Jose on Monday, June 6th by 11:00am so they can be present for the services.
Oak Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Park


View the online memorial for John Grillo