Obituary for John Ciaciura

John Joseph Ciaciura, age 60, of Westerville, OH, passed away on March 20, 2024 after a courageous battle with his health that spanned many years. John is preceded in death by his loving and devoted parents, John E. and Patricia (Ryan) Ciaciura; infant niece, Alexis DeLille; in-laws, Salvador and Lupita Agueros; and wonderful aunts, uncles and cousins.

John was born in Chicago, IL on March 13, 1964. He attended St. Mary’s Catholic School in Waukesha, WI until 6th grade when the family moved to Westerville, OH. He finished middle school at St. Paul School in Westerville, and graduated from St. Francis DeSales High School in 1982. He also attended the University of Dayton and Wright State University. He enjoyed his time working in the home building industry until a stroke in 2003 sidelined him from his professional career.

In John’s younger days, he loved playing many different sports, but his true love was soccer. He had the special distinction of playing on the first Boys Soccer team for St. Francis DeSales High School. As an adult, he came back to the sport as a coach and enjoyed helping to cultivate the soccer skills of the many young players he encountered. His biggest joy of coaching was returning to his beloved alma mater to join the St. Francis DeSales coaching staff where he coached both Girls and Boys soccer. One of his favorite memories was being a part of the 1992 State Championship season. In recent years it brought him great joy to be welcomed back to the program as a soccer alum during the playoffs.

John was a model of perseverance, as the last 20 years were a challenge for him since his stroke. Despite his obstacles, he still found joy in each day, held his head high, and accepted his circumstances, especially while living in a specialty nursing rehabilitation center for about nine years. Even though he had limitations, he was able to take care of his family and friends by checking in and staying connected. He looked forward to his daily calls with his mom, and even identified her need for critical medical attention on a couple occasions when he could not get in touch with her. He had a big heart and truly cared so much about the people in his life. Rarely was the conversation about him and his challenges. He preferred hearing about others and knowing what was happening in their lives. His genuine care and concern and phone calls will be greatly missed.

John was raised in a loving family with a strong faith. John’s faith remained strong throughout his life and helped him through some of his most difficult times. Over this last decade, John cherished Sundays when his brother, Joe, would visit him, go through the Mass and offer him communion. This would bring him such peace and certainly helped him through each challenging day.

John’s love of God, family and friends were at the top of his list, followed closely by his love of all things sports, music and movies. He was an avid Green Bay Packers fan since childhood, and since making Westerville his home, was a loyal Buckeyes, Blue Jackets and Crew fan. His love for music was ingrained since he was little, and The Beatles were his favorite group from an early age. It was in playing The Beatles for him that we saw his first responses after his stroke. The Fab Four came through again this year during another time of unresponsiveness. Great conversations occurred with John when you could get him talking about these favorite things.

We will certainly miss his presence in our lives here. However, we know how blessed we were to witness and walk with him through his struggles and challenges as they helped us focus on what was truly important in life. This last year was his most difficult one to date, as he slowly encountered one obstacle after another, yet he stayed strong for as long as he could. He taught us how to persevere and drew us all closer to God in prayer. For his witness, we are forever grateful. We are comforted knowing that John is at peace and has joined our parents and many loved ones to enjoy the gift of eternal life. John is survived by his wife, Norma Agueros Ciaciura and daughter, Jennifer Ciaciura.

He is also survived by his five siblings and their spouses: Patty (Brad) Himes, Maureen (Mark) Goad, Joe (Tara) Ciaciura, Mary (Jason) DeLille and Karen (Doug) Heil. Uncle John is survived by many nieces and nephews: Courtney (Adam) Hinson, Stephanie (Tyler) Cook, Lauren Himes, Tanner and Ember DeLille, Samantha and Riley Goad, Tommy and Veronica Ciaciura, and Kevin, Brandon, Allison and Kathleen Heil; and he is a Great Uncle to Liam Hinson and Camryn and Caden Cook. John also leaves behind his brother-in-law, Xavier Agueros, and his children Xavier, Alondra, and Alexis; his uncles, Ed (Kathy) Ryan and Harry Ciaciura, and many cousins and friends.

Please join in a celebration of John’s life on Friday, April 5, 2024 at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, 313 N. State Street, Westerville. Family will receive visitors at 9:30 am, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 am with Fr. Daniel Olvera as celebrant, concelebrated with Fr. Charles Klinger, and assisted by John’s brother, Deacon Joe Ciaciura. Interment will be at Resurrection Cemetery immediately following Mass. If you cannot make the Mass in person it will be live-streamed. Please follow this link to view: https://stpacc.org/livestream

The family would like to thank the many doctors, nurses and caregivers who had John in their care all of these years. We encountered numerous angels who had such compassion for John’s well-being and we are truly grateful for all that they did to make him as comfortable as possible, especially in this last year. We would also like to thank John's family and friends for all of their love, prayers and support through the years. They helped us all in a tremendous way.