Jeff Mauro’s Heartbreaking Tribute to His Late Father “Big Gus”

Food Network fans know Jeff Mauro as the quick-witted, big-hearted “Sandwich King” who can turn a simple meal into a moment—whether he’s hosting or co-hosting hit shows, cracking jokes, or serving up comfort food with a Chicago edge. He rose to national fame after winning Food Network Star and became a familiar face on The Kitchen, building a career around equal parts cooking and charisma.

But in early 2025, Jeff shared a far more personal story—one that stopped his usual fun-loving feed in its tracks: the loss of his father, August Peter “Gus” Mauro, a man Jeff’s followers knew as “Big Gus,” and a presence described by loved ones as larger than life.

The diagnosis that changed everything fast

According to Jeff’s announcement, his dad’s illness moved with terrifying speed. He revealed that Gus endured a “scary quick five week battle with metastatic pancreatic cancer,” a timeline that left the family reeling as they tried to process the diagnosis, the whirlwind of medical decisions, and the emotional reality that time was suddenly short.

That urgency—so common with pancreatic cancer—became the backdrop for Jeff’s tribute: not just grief, but the shock of losing someone who still felt like the family’s steady center.

Gus Mauro’s passing

Gus passed away peacefully on February 1, 2025, at age 75, after what his obituary calls a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.

Jeff shared that his father passed peacefully at home, a detail that added both heartbreak and tenderness to the moment—suggesting the family was able to be close during those final hours, holding tight to the person who had held them together for decades.

Who was “Big Gus”?

Gus wasn’t just “Jeff Mauro’s dad.” His life story reads like a blueprint of Chicago grit, ambition, and public service.

Born January 5, 1950, in Chicago, Gus was raised in a proud, tight-knit family. He graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep in 1967, then studied structural engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago—and it was there he met the love of his life, Pamela Renzi. They married in 1973 and shared 51 years together.

Professionally, Gus left his fingerprints all over the city he loved. His obituary notes that he began at Chicago’s Department of Public Works, later contributed to major efforts at O’Hare International Airport’s Construction Division, served as Deputy Commissioner of Rehabilitation and Development, and ultimately became Commissioner for the City of Chicago’s Department of Housing, where he advocated for urban development and affordable housing initiatives.

He also built beyond city government—co-founding New West Realty in 1979 and later OPPIDANusa, sharing decades of knowledge in construction, architecture, and engineering while mentoring others along the way.

The family he left behind

In Jeff’s tribute, Gus was remembered not only as a father, but as the family’s heart: a husband, brother, uncle, and “Poppie.”

Gus is survived by his wife Pam, his sister Frances, and—what the obituary calls his “four greatest achievements”—his children Frank, Jeff, Emily, and Dana. He was also a proud grandfather (“Poppie”) to his grandsons Frankie, Lorenzo, and Leno, and a beloved father-in-law and friend to many.

Jeff’s tribute: grief, gratitude, and legacy

What made Jeff Mauro’s tribute land so hard with fans is how clearly it came from a son who adored his dad—not just for what he did, but for who he was: the storyteller, the teacher, the steady hand, the guy whose love showed up in a thousand everyday ways.

And while Jeff is best known for feeding people, his words made it clear his father spent a lifetime doing the same—feeding his family with support, humor, protection, and pride.

In the end, Jeff’s farewell wasn’t only a goodbye. It was a promise: that “Big Gus” doesn’t disappear just because he’s gone. His legacy lives on in the family he built, the city he helped shape, and the kind of dad—and “Poppie”—so memorable that even in loss, people still speak his name like a warm room you can step back into.

His Brother’s Cancer Battle

Long before Gus Mauro received his diagnosis, the Mauro family had already been living with cancer in the background—supporting Jeff Mauro’s older brother, Frank, through an exhausting, years-long fight with stage 4 colorectal cancer. Frank was first diagnosed in 2017 at 43, and even as he reached important milestones along the way, the illness never fully disappeared.

Jeff shared one of those hopeful moments in July 2022, posting an Instagram video of Frank “ringing the bell” to mark the end of a chemotherapy round. But the road stayed complicated. More surgeries followed, including what was supposed to be a final, decisive procedure in May 2024. Updates Frank later shared through a GoFundMe campaign suggested the surgery initially looked promising—until January 26, 2025, when Frank revealed doctors had found the cancer had returned and that he would need chemotherapy indefinitely. Through it all, Jeff has repeatedly highlighted one lesson he doesn’t want anyone to ignore: if you’re 40 or older, schedule a colonoscopy—not just for yourself, but for the people who love you.