Robert Gizzo

Robert “Bob” Gizzo, 73, of New Jersey, passed away peacefully on March 7, 2026, surrounded by his loving family.

Born in Newark in 1953, Bob graduated from Barringer High School in 1970, where he played on the baseball team. That 1970 squad was later inducted into the Newark Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995. He went on to play second base at Montclair State College, showing the same determination and fighting spirit that marked his entire life.

Bob spent most of his career in the insurance industry. For a time he enjoyed what he called his “dream job” with the Florida Lottery in Boca Raton before returning to New Jersey to be closer to family. He continued working in insurance sales with Prudential and later supported the company’s Fraud Investigation Division until his retirement.

Known affectionately as “Giz” to those closest to him, Bob was a man who stayed connected. He remembered small details about the lives of family, friends, colleagues, and clients, and he made a point of calling to ask not only how you were but how everyone in your family was doing. He loved humming a tune, talking Yankees baseball, recalling family vacations in Wildwood Crest, and pulling out the accordion photo sleeve he carried, filled with pictures of his daughters from infancy through grade school.

He shared 43 years of marriage with his wife, Christine, and took great pride in his daughters, Erica (née Gizzo) Grant and Danielle Gizzo Duca and her husband Michael Duca. He is also survived by his sister, Lisa (née Gizzo) Coates and her husband Robert Coates, his brother-in-law Sandy (née Friedella) Guarino, four nephews and their wives, five grandnieces and grandnephews, cousins, and many dear friends.

Bob was predeceased by his parents, Michael and Lucy Gizzo, his son-in-law Daniel Grant, and his brother-in-law Michael Guarino. He will be remembered for his fierce loyalty, humor, determination, and the genuine care he showed everyone he knew.