Wayne Richard Gioioso Sr., a real estate investor and minority owner of the Orioles, died of a heart attack on December 7 at St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 83 years old.
“He was big. He was larger than life. He was big in so many ways,” said his son Wayne R. Gioioso Jr.
Mr. Gioioso was born in Baltimore to Nicholas Gioiso, owner of Joysey Hut Manufacturing Co., an Anglicized version of his family’s Italian surname, and Rynta Kellam, a housewife. His father arrived in Baltimore from the southern Italian town of Ruoti with his four brothers around the turn of the century.
Mr. Gioioso, who is 6 feet 4 inches tall, grew up in Mount Washington and graduated from Calvert Hall College High School in 1960, the University of Baltimore in 1963 and the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1966.
In high school, he met his wife, Judy Gioiso, who was a student at Western High School, at the Splendid Diner in front of school. His family legend has it that he was modest on his first date.
“On my first date with my mom, he took her to a drive-in movie. She asked for popcorn and he said, ‘No, it’s expensive,'” said daughter Pam. Villa Santa Said. “So she went to get her stuff and didn’t let him have anything.”
Maurice Wyatt, a friend from high school, said LaSallian’s brother, who oversaw her detention at Calvert Hall, knew Gioioso well and offered her money to buy her a ring. He said he lent it to me. The two married as teenagers in 1960 and raised five children. They lived in Mount Washington before moving to Lutherville and Glen Arm.
“She calmed his storm,” Pam said. “They were married for almost 64 years.”
Gioioso, a father, had his five children order individually at McDonald’s to avoid the 4-cent sales tax on purchases over $1.
He hated ice machines and swearing.
“He never gave us ice. If we got ice, we got less coke,” Wayne Gioioso Jr. said. “He probably saved $250 that way in his lifetime, but that’s who he was. He saved every penny.”
“I never heard him swear,” Pam said. “I don’t think anyone has ever done it.”
While in law school, Mr. Gioioso bought his first home at auction in the Hampden area and fell in love with it, choosing instead to pursue a career in house-hopping. He bought a house in Hampden for a few thousand dollars, fixed it up, rented it out, and sold it 50 years later for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In the Baltimore area, he was a member of the Sons of Italy and related Italian American charities, and organized weekly Monday night dinners with friends in Little Italy. When Mr. Angelos bought the Orioles for $173 million in 1993, Mr. Gioioso was in New York City bankruptcy court with his longtime friend Peter Angelos. As a minority owner, Mr. Gioioso took his son with him when the Orioles played an exhibition game in Cuba in 1999 and introduced his son to President Fidel Castro.
Gioioso’s friends called him “Big Wayne,” and his grandchildren called him “Bubba.” Mr. Wyatt, a lawyer and lobbyist, said Mr. Gioioso would call his office and tell his secretary it was from the mayor or the pope. Once, when former Gov. Parris Glendening actually called his office, Mr. Wyatt assumed it was Mr. Gioioso and answered the phone swearing.
“I didn’t get a call from the governor, so I knew it was Wayne. I picked up the phone and said, ‘Okay.’ [expletive], what do you want? “The governor said, “Maurice, is that you?” Wyatt said. “We have been good friends for 70 years.”
The funeral was held on December 14th at the Church of the Nativity in Timonium.
Mr. Gioiso is survived by his wife, Judy Gioiso of Glen Arm; his son, Wayne R. Gioiso Jr. of Ruxton; four daughters, Pam Villasanta of Lutherville, Michelle Love of Lutherville, Tina Giioso of Glen Arm, and Nicole Freeland of Edgewood; 17 grandchildren. He has six great-grandchildren and two more on the way. and two Shih Tzus, Jilly and Gabby.
On his last day, Mr. Gioiso drove to Lowe’s to pick up supplies to repair his broken boiler and called his accountant. That night, he went to a Christmas party with his son and insisted on walking a few extra blocks instead of paying for nearby parking.
At his 83rd birthday party in November, he asked Father Bill Waters about heaven.
“He asked, ‘When you get to heaven, are you going to meet people?’ Father Waters said, ‘Yes.’ He said, “So do you think I’ll get to meet the nuns of my youth?” Because there was a lot to do in those days. I hope they understand that I created something myself,” the son said. “Father Waters told him, ‘Yes, they’re going to know.’