Edwin John Gianantonio, Jr.

Edwin John Gianantonio, Jr., Ed or Eddie as he was affectionately known, died September 18, 2023 after a long battle with COPD.

He was born December 2, 1940 in Cleveland, Ohio. He served honorably in the United States Army from 1964 to 1969. He was Catholic and a member of the Knights of Columbus.

In his last few weeks of life, he would tell us he would soon be going to his next job, and expressed how grateful he was with the job God had given him here on earth. He considered his earthly job as being the best he could be as the son of Edwin J. Gianantonio, Sr., and, Lillian R. Gianantonio, the best brother to Judy, Joanna, Bob, and Dennis, the best husband to Minnie Lee, the best father to Teresa, the best step father to Rodney and Carolyn, the best grandfather to Robert and Cheryl, the best step grandfather to Rodney II, Ryan, Miranda, Jordan, and Chad, and the best great grandfather, step great grandfather, uncle and friend.

He was a partner in Motive Kits, where he retired after closing the business.

Early in his adult life he was a member of a team that raced stock cars at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, and surrounding tracks every weekend during racing season. The team set many records and won many championships. Ed was an avid fan of Nascar and He and Minnie developed relationships with many friends, fans, drivers, team owners, members, and officials of Nascar. We loved to hear all the stories he and Minnie would tell about their times at the races.

He also enjoyed many years of sponsorship and a supporter of his late step grandson, Ryan's, r/c car racing career which culminated in 7 national championships. I'm sure they're now preparing the cars for the next big race.

He loved his dream car, a 1963 Ford Fairlane 500 Sports Coupe that he bought new in 1963 while working at a Ford Dealership Parts Department in Ohio. He sold the car a couple of times which had remained in the family. In 2004 he took final ownership of his beloved Fairlane and restoration was completed in 2009 as a resto mod. He won 6 national awards and 89 other various awards. When he could no longer drive and take his Fairlane to car shows, he sold her to Carl, a fellow car enthusiast in Utah in August 2022. Carl has already won numerous awards in the first year of his ownership of Ed's beloved Fairlane, and I'm positive there will be more to come.

So as Eddie begins his next job, he will be fondly remembered by all of us as trying to be the best he could be at everything he did. He will be dearly missed.

Graveside services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 26, 2023 at the Yukon Cemetery, Yukon, OK.