Joseph Peter Ilvento, MD, was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, into a family of restauranteurs. He learned to make pizza at an early age, and always had a professional stone-lined pizza oven installed wherever he was living. Needless to say, this made him a natural choice for all his daughters’ birthdays, soccer teams, and class parties. In addition to cooking, Joe’s avocations included wine collecting, golf, opera, and woodworking. He could repair just about anything. He was a proud Italian and a Jersey boy to his core.

Joe became interested in cardiology, and electrophysiology in particular, in his teens. This choice was fitting to anyone who knew him, as the size and strength of his own heart was profound. During high school he spent summers at Columbia University Hospital working in the electrophysiology laboratory. He attended college and medical school at Johns Hopkins University. He was a resident and chief resident at Parkland Memorial in Dallas, followed by cardiology fellowship at Stanford University where he met his wife who was a fellow in radiology. Joe’s final year of training was spent in electrophysiology at UCSF. He pioneered techniques for mapping the internal electrical pathways of the heart and held several patents for medical devices. During the years he practiced in Los Angeles from 1986 to 1990, he was in demand as a consultant and on the lecture circuit, helping to train other cardiologists around the world. He wrote some of the questions for the first ever board exam in electrophysiology.

In 1990 Joe became the first electrophysiologist on the Central Coast. He established the electrophysiology service at Cottage Hospital, and made a deliberate decision to focus on his family and his patients. He remained true to his vision throughout his career, giving his patient focus to just one patient at a time. He added many years to the lives of many people. His patients miss him.

Joe leaves behind his wife of 38 years, Judy Dean, MD; his daughters, Luisa Ilvento, Christina Ilvento and Juliana Fitzpatrick; son-in-law, Jack Fitzpatrick; and grandchildren, Lillian and James Joseph — named for his grandfather. His daughters are his most prized legacy.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to City of Hope in his honor at ourhope.cityofhope.org/JosephIlvento. A funeral mass will be held at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Montecito on Friday, June 30, at 11 a.m.