Ethel H. Petro's Obituary
Ethel H. Petro (nee Giavedoni) passed away on August 25, 2022, after a period of declining health at the age of 81. Ethel was born on November 1, 1940, in Budapest, Hungary, to Ernest and Adelaide (Csiko) Giavedoni. As a child, she, with her mother and younger brother, endured the horrors of World War II while her father was fighting in the Italian army. After the war, she and her family were reunited and sought refuge in Italy. She spent her formative years near Arezzo, Italy in a refugee camp before immigrating to the United States in 1956.
She graduated from Lincoln High School in 1958 and shortly thereafter, met her husband and life-long love, Nicholas S. Petro, a fellow Hungarian immigrant, in Cleveland, Ohio. They were married in Cleveland in 1961 and moved to Strongsville in 1966, raising four children. Ethel worked at various jobs – the West Side Market as a teenager, City Plumbing, Strongsville City Schools, Van Dorn Corporation and ultimately at Southwest General Health Center as an Office Administrator in Plant Operations, retiring after 23 years of service.
Ethel showered her family with immeasurable love and fierce devotion. She and her husband Nicholas provided enduring support and unwavering encouragement in their children’s education and professional aspirations as an architect, a corporate marketing professional, a teacher, and a veterinarian. Ethel was a caring and steadfast friend to many, but especially fond of her “sister,” Marie Bene Keresztesy, whom she met in high school and maintained a strong, lasting, loving friendship.
Ethel is survived by her loving husband of 61 years, Nicholas; treasured daughters: Christine Petro, RA (David Fell), Janette Petro, MBA, and Dr. Nancy Petro, DVM; cherished grandchildren: Nicholas Kovacs, Carlee Keller, Olivia Keller, and David Fell, Jr.; and several adored nieces, nephews, grand- and great-grand nieces and nephews throughout the United States and Europe. She was preceded in death by her son, Nicholas Petro, Jr., her brother, Ernest Giavedoni, Jr., and her parents.
A Memorial Mass will be held on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2022 at 11:30AM at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 12700 Pearl Road, Strongsville, Ohio. Interment will be private.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests consideration of donations made in Ethel’s name to any of the following (listed alphabetically and not by preference): the Cleveland Animal Protective League, the Gary Sinise Foundation, the Thomas P. Perciak Family Residential Hospice of Southwest General, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, and/or the Wounded Warrior Project.
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