Emma A. Minnite-Gilio (94), our beautiful mother, grandmother, and sister, passed away on the morning of Tuesday, September 26, 2017. Emma was born on March 27, 1923, in Spring Glen, Utah, the seventh of ten children of Italian immigrants Giovanni Minnite and Gelsomina Marchese-Minnite. In 1932 her family settled in Fresno, California, where Emma attended Columbia Elementary School and Edison High, from which she graduated in 1941.

In 1941, she married James J. Gilio, and together they ran Gilio’s Market in Cantua Creek, California. After Jim’s death in 1973, Emma continued to operate the store with her son Larry. Emma’s loved ones who predeceased her include her husband and parents; siblings Phyllis, Jennie, Chris, Pete, Ralph, Raymond, and Regge; and grandson Larry Gilio, Jr.

Emma’s loved ones who survive her include her daughter Donna Gilio; son Larry Gilio and his wife Anita; granddaughter Stacey Wood; and great grandchildren Christian and Gianna Wood. Also surviving are sisters Angela Hill and Mary Schuesler, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, September 28 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Jay Chapel in Madera, California.

Graveside services will be held on Friday, September 29 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Fresno,

Remembrances—marked “in memory of Emma Minnite-Gilio”—may be made to Saint Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or to Poverello House, 412 F Street, Fresno, CA 93706.