Obituary of John Iucolano

John Iucolano on December 2. Friends and family may visit the THOMAS F. DALTON Funeral Home 412 WILLIS AVENUE WILLISTON PARK, NEW YORK on Thursday December 4 from 6-9PM AND Friday from 2-4 and 7-9PM. Funeral mass will take place at St. Aidan Roman Catholic Church WILLIS AVENUE WILLISTON PARK, NEW YORK SATURDAY December 6 at 11AM. Interment to follow at Holy Rood Cemetery! John Iucolano Born on August 18, 1931 – Died on December 2, 2014 83 Years Old Born on August 18, 1931 in a small town in Sicily (Italy) Grew up as an only child surrounded by loving parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and friends Met his life partner – Lina – when he was 17 and she was only 13. At 17 he also joined the Arma dei Carabinieri, the national military police of Italy (policing both military and civilian populations) and served his country for 13 years. He married his childhood sweetheart at 30 (after a 13 year courtship, part of which was cross continent as Lina moved to the USA at 18, in 1956) (Note: the legal marrying age for the Carabinieri at that time was 30. Dad’s was based in the northern part of Italy, and mom moved to the USA with her mother and brothers at the age of 18. Their courtship continued through letter writing for 13 years. Mom then went to Italy to marry dad in May 1962 expecting to stay there but their plans changed. They were married for 52 years.) Dad retired from the Carabinieri shortly after getting married and returned to America with his new bride. He retired as Brigadiere. Back in America they lived in Italian immigrant neighborhood of Astoria Queens where mom had come. They later moved to Jackson Heights (Queens) and in the late 1970s moved to Roslyn and became members of the St. Aidan’s parish. In America, he secured a job with Pan American Airlines and worked for the company for 30 years until he retired. Our family enjoyed flight benefits as a result of his work at Pan Am and made many trips to visit family in Italy, and to a few other places. John has two daughters – Donna (51) and Lorraine (who turned 50 during this tragic week on Thursday, December 4th). Both graduated from Herricks High School and went on to college. John’s son-in-law, Daniel Cataldo, married to Lorraine for 25 years (celebrated on October 1, 2014) Lorraine and Dan have 3 children – Nicholas (almost 20, sophomore at Stonybrook), Olivia (17, senior at Manhasset High School) and Daniel (11, 6th grader at Shelter Rock Elementary School). Grandchildren are wonderful kids – well mannered, respectful, good students, loving, kind and more. Dad was a wonderful grandpa and spent a great deal of time with his grandchildren. He was a very proud father and grandfather; a true family man in every sense of the word – to not only his immediate family but to his and mom’s extended family as well. He was kind, committed, loyal, generous, supportive, encouraging; first class gentleman. Disciplined man – military training never left him; patriotic (Italian and American); proud Italian America; dual citizen; great sense of duty, honor and purpose Great friend to many people and equally comfortable with people of all ages (young to old) Member of the retired Caribinieri association of New York for more than 20 years years; served organization as a liaison to Rome, special event organizer, Secretary and Treasurer. He was also honored by the organization several times. Faithful and religious man – went to church every weekend (generally on Sunday)Please call Riverdale Funeral Home for further information. 212-942-4000 To plant Memorial Trees in memory of John Iucolano, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.