Dr. A. Thomas Licciardello

1924 - 2023

Dr. A. Thomas Licciardello
Anthony Cleofonde Thomas Licciardello died peacefully on October 3, 2023, at his home in Cambridge, MA, at the age of 99.
The son of Sicilian immigrants Domenic and Katherine (Arcidiacono) Licciardello, Tom was the first of his family to experience higher education. He commuted to Tufts College from his supportive Italian enclave in Lawrence, MA, graduating in 1943 with a Bachelor of Science. He immediately enlisted in the Navy Reserve, and then went on to Harvard Medical School, followed by a residency at Mass General Hospital. There, he met Evelyn Gertrude Billings, who became the love of his life. They married in the summer of 1949. Compelled by the Navy, he completed his residency quickly and deployed to Japan, where he served as a doctor during the Korean War. Upon his return, Tom and Trudy settled in Trumbull, CT, where they raised four children and Tom practiced first internal medicine and later cardiology over a fifty-year career at Bridgeport Hospital. Tom became a doctor when there was little to offer those with heart disease, and as the field advanced, he kept up. When he was mid-career, he became board-certified in cardiology and eventually directed the first coronary care unit at Bridgeport Hospital. Tom retired in 2004, at the age of 80, and he and Trudy moved together to Cadbury Commons Assisted Living in Cambridge, MA in 2007. He lovingly cared for her until her death in 2014 from Alzheimer's Disease.
Blessed with intelligence and curiosity, Tom embraced the discipline and the challenge of thinking diagnostically. Even late in life, when he was hospitalized with a new ailment, he took pride, and some frustration, in more than once pinpointing the cause of his troubles before his doctors could.
Tom loved life. In his final decade, he wrote poetry to explore his grief over Trudy, his amusement with life, and his experience of aging. He also continued his lifelong love of making and listening to live music. A performer since his teenage years, Tom began each day at a piano, playing old jazz standards for the pleasure of any who wanted to come by the lounge. As his mobility and vision suffered, he relished visitors' simple observations of the outside world. A month before his death, Tom sang enthusiastically along to a visiting jazz combo. A week before, he declared his dinner delicious.
Tom will be missed by many, but most acutely by his brother, Michael Licciardello and his wife Krys Bart of Arizona, his children, Jere Licciardello and his wife Janet of North Carolina, John Licciardello of Rhode Island, Anne Licciardello of Massachusetts, and Jane McIntyre and her husband James of Massachusetts, and by his eight grandchildren and his two great-grandchildren. Burial will be private. A memorial celebration will be held in the coming weeks. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Doctors Without Borders at https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/secure/donate or The Cambridge Symphony at https://www.cambridgesymphony.org/donate .