Joseph Giancola, Jr.
September 13, 1925 — June 7, 2013
Joseph A. (Joe) Giancola, Jr., 87, a former resident of Stamford passed away peacefully on Friday, June 7, 2013 at Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Boynton Beach, FL. He was born in Stamford on September 13, 1925 to the late Joseph A. Giancola, Sr. and Florence Andrea Giancola.
Joe was a graduate of the Bordentown Military Institute, a private high school in Bordentown, New Jersey and Peddie, a college preparatory school in Hightstown, New Jersey. Mr. Giancola was also an accomplished musician. After serving in the Army during World War II, he played the saxophone with the Glenn Miller Orchestra in Paris, France prior to returning home. After the war, he studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.
A pioneer in the development of the discount department store business, Mr. Giancola owned and operated Eastern Sales. He later partnered with Mike Lasalandra to form Eastbrook Sales, which became part of the Caldor Group. Mr. Giancola was an entrepreneur in the truest sense and enjoyed a long and varied career. Later in his life, he capitalized on his architecture background and became one of the leading building contractors in the city of Stamford.
Joe and his wife Josephine were avid golfers and members of Shore Haven Country Club in Norwalk for many years before retiring full-time to Florida. More than anything, his family and friends will remember him as a warm, talented and generous person.
He is survived by his loving children Joseph A. Giancola, III and his wife Dianne of Stamford, Sandy Denise Benner of Silverthorn, CO, his sister Jean Duffy of Boca Raton, FL and many other family members and friends.
Besides his parents, Joseph was predeceased by his wife Josephine D. Lupinacci Giancola and his sister Betty Gerlach.
A funeral procession will be leaving The Nicholas F. Cognetta Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Myrtle Avenue, Stamford, CT 06902 on Wednesday, June 12, 2013 at 10:00 AM for a Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated at 10:30 AM at Sacred Heart RC Church, 37 Schuyler Avenue, Stamford. Interment will follow at St. John’s RC Cemetery, Darien. Family and friends may call at the funeral home on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 from 5:00-8:00 PM.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Joe’s memory to a charity of one’s own’s choice or to the Umbrella Club, P.O Box 112238, Stamford, CT 06911-2238/umbrellaclub.org
To leave online condolences, please visit www.cognetta.com
Joe was a graduate of the Bordentown Military Institute, a private high school in Bordentown, New Jersey and Peddie, a college preparatory school in Hightstown, New Jersey. Mr. Giancola was also an accomplished musician. After serving in the Army during World War II, he played the saxophone with the Glenn Miller Orchestra in Paris, France prior to returning home. After the war, he studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.
A pioneer in the development of the discount department store business, Mr. Giancola owned and operated Eastern Sales. He later partnered with Mike Lasalandra to form Eastbrook Sales, which became part of the Caldor Group. Mr. Giancola was an entrepreneur in the truest sense and enjoyed a long and varied career. Later in his life, he capitalized on his architecture background and became one of the leading building contractors in the city of Stamford.
Joe and his wife Josephine were avid golfers and members of Shore Haven Country Club in Norwalk for many years before retiring full-time to Florida. More than anything, his family and friends will remember him as a warm, talented and generous person.
He is survived by his loving children Joseph A. Giancola, III and his wife Dianne of Stamford, Sandy Denise Benner of Silverthorn, CO, his sister Jean Duffy of Boca Raton, FL and many other family members and friends.
Besides his parents, Joseph was predeceased by his wife Josephine D. Lupinacci Giancola and his sister Betty Gerlach.
A funeral procession will be leaving The Nicholas F. Cognetta Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Myrtle Avenue, Stamford, CT 06902 on Wednesday, June 12, 2013 at 10:00 AM for a Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated at 10:30 AM at Sacred Heart RC Church, 37 Schuyler Avenue, Stamford. Interment will follow at St. John’s RC Cemetery, Darien. Family and friends may call at the funeral home on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 from 5:00-8:00 PM.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Joe’s memory to a charity of one’s own’s choice or to the Umbrella Club, P.O Box 112238, Stamford, CT 06911-2238/umbrellaclub.org
To leave online condolences, please visit www.cognetta.com
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