Gerald Joseph Granozio, a writer, teacher, and marketing executive formerly of East Hampton, died on Aug. 21 at the Pasciuti Pavilion of the Osborn assisted living facility in Rye, N.Y., under the care of Hospice of Westchester. He was 84 and had been in failing health since a heart attack in January.
Mr. Granozio was a copywriter and editor for Women’s Wear Daily and Fairchild Media in New York City. He worked for Leviton, a manufacturing company, before becoming manager of marketing communications for the animal health division at Merck Pharmaceuticals in Rahway, N.J.
A movie buff, he was an expert on the Academy Awards, writing a book of themed puzzles titled “So You Think You Know Oscar.” He enjoyed music, casinos, the beaches, dining out, and traveling.
Mr. Granozio was born in Corning, N.Y., on June 1, 1939, to Lazzaro J. Granozio and Rose Bianco Granozio, who later remarried and took the last name Doud. In 1957, he graduated from Northside High School in Corning, where he was on a football team that notably played against Jim Brown, the future Hall of Famer.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in English in 1962 from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, where he wrote a music column and served as editor in chief of the college newspaper, The Dolphin. He also performed with the Pompeian Players of Syracuse.
That same year Mr. Granozio married Jo Ann Tedesco. The couple had two children. They divorced in 1972.
He received a teaching certificate from the State University at Cortland and taught middle school English for two years in Syracuse.
After living in New York City, Mr. Granozio and his longtime domestic partner, Kevin J. Keane, bought a house in East Hampton in 1992 and eventually settled here year round. Together since 1980, they were married on Sept. 12, 2016. Mr. Keane died in 2021.
Following his early retirement, Mr. Granozio remained active in his adopted hometown, teaching at East Hampton High School, earning a real estate license, and selling houses across the South Fork. He also volunteered at East Hampton Town’s senior citizens center. As a result, he was a popular figure here, frequently encountering former students and people to whom he had sold houses.
He is survived by a son, Christopher Granozio of Manhattan, and a daughter, Jennifer Granozio of Beacon, N.Y., their spouses, Mary Ellen Cuneo and Matthew Glass, and his ex-wife, Jo Ann Tedesco Clayton of Manhattan. Two sisters, Florence Thompson and Mary Giardina, died before him.
Mr. Granozio was cremated. He requested that his children and their spouses hold a small, private ceremony in East Hampton next year.
