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Fortunato Pittella Obituary
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Memories and Condolences
for Fortunato Pittella
2 Entries
Rachel Weiss
August 16, 2005
I was very sad to hear about the passing of Pitella. Pitella was my first full-time hair stylist during my teenage years in York, PA. Responsible for keeping my hair on-trend during the fabulous 80's, Pitella's creations included the famous "electrocution" hairdo, the lopsided bob, the long bleached blonde bangs, numerous tight curly perms and the infamous Joan Jett hair crisis. Pitella would cut and color all of his client's hair with their backs to the mirror and I allowed him full artistic license. Being the Jose Eber of York, PA, Pitella was always overbooked so he'd put you under hot lights and dry your hair with the dryer stuck in a drawer while he worked on fifteen other clients. After he finished you off with the curling iron, he'd spin you around to "shake it out" to see his final creation. He once told me that this was just how Jose did it. Pitella always served tiny Cokes in the bottle, which even as a teenager, I thought was very high-class. Pitella was an old-school Warren Beatty Shampoo era hairdresser who felt that you should always look as you if you just left the salon and his curling irons were always on high. I relied on him and spent so much time on my hair I once was grounded for going through too many bottles of Sebastian Spritz Forte in one week.
Pitella taught me at a young age that a good haircut could make any outfit look good and I still believe in this philosophy.
And to this day, I always take off my glasses when I get in the chair so I can't see what's going on. As I witness the final hairdo, I love the final rush I experience as if I'm 16 years old again, back in Pitella's chair, believing for one split second that I just might be beautiful.
Beth Shipley
August 15, 2005
Fortunato and Betsy were much loved and appreciated by our family. He was particularly sweet to me, keeping an eye on the men in my life "to make sure they were good enough for me!" And he was never too busy to squeeze one of us in for an appointment, I think because we were as special to him as he was to us.
God's blessings to your family as you mourn the loss of a treasured man. Some people will live on in our hearts, and Fortunato is one of them.
With love,
Beth Shipley
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