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| Michael Joseph ("Nick") Cicotello
Married: May 26, 1946 Died: January 12, 1981 Spouse: Ida Minerva Richard Children: Daniel Joseph PHOTOS
Nick was never called by his
given name, Michael. He was always called Nick or Michele, Italian for
Michael, by parents and other Italian immigrants. A 1934 graduate of
Portage Borough High School, he was an apprentice barber during his high school
years at Charley Tomoselli's barber Nick was a veteran of World War II. He served as an enlisted man with the U.S. Air Force, assigned as an instructor. He was honorably discharged from military service in Denver, Colorado, where he remained to marry Ida, who he met while stationed there. They made their home in Aurora, where they raised their kids Dan and Carol, and where Nick opened a barber shop after working for a short time in other barber shops in the Denver area. Ida, who was a professional oboe player and piano and organ teacher, became a working mother, after Dan and Carol started school. She taught music for the Denver school system for years until she retired. Ida is still well, enjoying retirement, and sometime moonlighting playing the piano or organ. Nick was in good health until diagnosed with a heart problem, blocked arteries. He died at Denver hospital of heart failure immediately following heart bypass surgery. Nick was a great guy, who made you laugh, but was sometimes grumpy, too. Hey, nobody understands grumpy people.
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Born:
October 5, 1916
shop
in Portage. He quit working there to work with brother Guy, who opened a
barber shop in Portage. They worked together for years, until Nick opened
his own barber shop across the street from Guy's. They could check out
each other's business by just looking out the shop windows. Nick closed
his barber shop, putting the fixtures in the family garage when he was drafted
for military service during World War II. Nick never returned to Portage
to re-open a shop and the barber pole hung there in the garage until a few years
ago when Brother Sam took it, giving it to a barber friend.