John Anthony Cavaluzzi, Jr.

John Anthony Cavaluzzi, Jr., age 84, died on July 28, 2026. Born in New York, NY, on July 31, 1941 to Elsie (Maggio) and John Anthony Cavaluzzi, Sr. Survived by Olivia (Trivelli) Cavaluzzi, his wife of 58 years, his children Christina (Tina) Cavaluzzi (Scott Heyward) and Michael John Cavaluzzi, PhD, his grandsons Owen and Louis Heyward, all of Baltimore, and his sister Nancy E. Cavaluzzi of New York. He worked for 40 years at Bayview Hospital, Baltimore City Hospital, as a neuro-radiologist, including training hundreds of students. He served 2 years in the Navy, volunteering at the completion of his own medical training. Service of Catholic mass will be conducted at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Parkville on August 7 at 9AM. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to his alma mater La Salle Academy of New York www.lasalleacademy.org or to support the political cause of your choice. The Funeral Mass will be live-streamed at IHM's live-stream at IHM's live-stream site... which can be accessed during the funeral, as well as anytime afterwards at www.FaceBook.com/IHMChurchMD or www.YouTube.com/IHMChurchMD John was born in Manhattan, New York, to parents with deep faith and loyalty to our country. He lived most of his childhood in the West Village. His father John emigrated at 7 years old from Bari, Italy, and became a naturalized citizen. He worked as a plasterer. His mother Elsie Rose Maggio worked as a secretary and was a first generation Italian American. Both were strong supporters of workers’ unions. His sister, Nancy, was two years younger, and they grew up close as partners in pranks, with lots of running jokes and gags. John remained very proud of his Italian heritage. John attended parochial school at St Ignatius Loyola then at St. Joseph’s Grammar school where he was an altar boy. He studied very hard and earned a full scholarship to La Salle Academy High School which he supported all his life. There he enjoyed competing in weekly speech and debate tournaments, especially the category of current events. He played handball, squash and basketball casually, and had lots of friends at school and in the neighborhood. He and his father were competitive at checkers. He worked weekends in a jazz club in the Village and became a lifelong fan of this genre, to add to his love of classical, opera and popular music . John’s dad became ill when he was a young teenager and the family knew hardship. Strong faith helped the family through many crises and John’s father lived till he was 92 and his mother till she was 90. John earned the prestigious Regents Scholarship to attend Manhattan College where he studied in preparation to enter medical school which he did at SUNY Downstate Medical College of Medicine in Brooklyn. He completed his training there including his residency and internship. His studies were challenging both scholastically and ethically, but he succeeded in the speciality of radiology. That his extended and nuclear family was proud of him is perhaps an understatement. At the hospital he met his wife Olivia and they married in 1968. He waited until his last day of rotation in the department where she worked before he asked her out – he was always very careful and methodical in observing rules and did not want to risk anything by dating her while working there. This diligence lasted his lifetime. After they married, they lived in Brooklyn, and continued to work at that hospital, and their first child Christina was born. When John completed his medical training, he served in the Navy during the Vietnam War. He was committed to his responsibilities as a physician and an American. He served for 2 years at the Navy hospital in Charleston, SC and retired with the rank of Commander. There his son Michael was born. After that stint, they lived in Chambersburg, PA for 1 year then moved to Baltimore to complete fellowships in angiography and neuro-radiology at Johns Hopkins, then he began working at Baltimore City Hospital and continued there as an Assistant Professor and Director of the Neuro-Radiology Imaging Department until he retired from Bayview Hospital. He would often reply that he was a “city employee” when people asked where he worked. For 2 reasons: he did not want to answer people’s medical questions because he felt very strongly that he should not give advice without all the information needed to draw a conclusion and also because that is against the law, and because he did not buy into the hierarchy that is characteristic of medical doctors and did not want people to think he was arrogant. This viewpoint carried over into his interactions at work, where he treated all his colleagues equally especially the technicians and nurses, and he passed this belief to his family. His work was extremely important to him and he took his responsibilities there very seriously. He spent most of his free time studying and reading cases and articles to keep current in the field and in his certifications. He learned the complex and new field of neuro-radiology in the 70’s all while doing full time work in his regular field of radiology. John was very adept and safe and was relied on by his surgeon colleagues for his expertise. His colleagues frequently asked for consultations in interpreting confusing neurologic findings. Further, he was considered a calm instructor to radiology residents and technologists, in addition to the care he provided to thousands of patients whose exams he performed or interpreted. In his free time, though he grew up a dedicated Yankees fan, he became an Orioles fan and took his family to many games at Memorial Stadium through the summer. And he also became a very committed Ravens fan, sharing a seat license with techs at work. During his last week of life he asked about the Ravens, wondering if there was a game on he could watch. He was also a really big reader, including fiction, non-fiction and poetry, especially Wallace Stevens. Throughout his life he enjoyed debating about current events, and also puns, jokes and tongue twisters. He preferred to complete the crossword in red pen. He was an avid collector of classical records and pursued the perfect audio set up – he referred to his speakers in the basement as “Voice of God.” He also enjoyed attending the opera with his wife and her cousin, though he did enjoy jazz and some popular music as well. Christmas could not be complete without listening to the Barking Dog CD of carols. He also became a talented photographer, and developed his own negatives. This is why we have so many photos of his friends and family – he was the one taking photos all the time. He loved to travel to Europe with his wife and they visited Italy many times and he endeavored to drink all the wines of France and eat all their cheeses. He was a great fan of “cafe culture.” He enjoyed woodworking and created his masterpiece of a chess table. Another of his hobbies was making wine and he took it very seriously, reading a lot about it and becoming an active member of the Maryland Bacchus Society. One thing John would tell you if you find a vintage that you like, buy a case. He loved being the toastmaster to Olivia’s cooking and they hosted many parties and dinners. He was very competitive when he played games like bridge and Trivial Pursuit and chess, and he was a regular helper at his grandsons’ chess club. During his son’s little league baseball times, he organized the umpires for the games. He spent many happy hours at the horse race game at Funland in Rehobeth Beach. While he was a very committed physician and it defined him, he also loved his family fiercely and was extremely loyal. The births of his two grandsons brought him great joy. He worked extremely hard to help guarantee his family’s success. He was always generous and treated everyone to meals and preferred giving presents that were distinctly something not useful, unless it was a t-shirt with a punny phrase. He searched all year for the perfect gift and he loved giving them. He valued people who could express an opinion or fact that challenged his own, and always considered other viewpoints before settling on his own. You could be sure he had researched and thought about his conclusions, but he was always willing to consider a good argument if it could convince him. He lived a life full of service, never forgetting his faith and commitment to his family.

John Anthony Cavaluzzi, Jr.

July 31, 1941 - July 28, 2026