Nick Giacomo

Nick Giacomo, 96, of McAlester, died Tuesday, April 28, 2009, at McAlester Regional Health Center.The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at Brumley-Mills Funeral Home.There will also be visitation at the church on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints with Bishop Craig Parkhurst officiating, assisted by Bill Anderson. Burial will be at Oak Hill Cemetery. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Brumley-Mills Funeral Home of McAlester.Nick Giacomo was born on Jan. 17, 1913 in Krebs to James and Rose Larene (Choch) DeGiacomo. At the age of nine, Nick was a "Lamplighter". Every night, on horseback, he would light the street lamps, then going out in the morning he put them out. Working with his father in the coal mines at the age of 12, Nick and his family knew the value of hard work. As a youth he enjoyed hunting, swimming, pole vaulting and roller skating (he was a speed skater). His daughters remember skating with their father at the local rink and the whistle blowing several times reminding him to slow down. He married Eolia Duff on Dec. 21, 1935 and they had two daughters, Delores and Dora Lea. As an adult, Nick worked in the CCC program and the naval Ammunition Depot. However, it was his employment with Grapette and Dr. Pepper Bottling Co. in the late 40's and 50's that earned him a cache of life-long friends. Driving the "pop truck" he covered southeast Oklahoma and Ft. Smith, Ark. Most people know and remember Nick wearing a smile and an apron at his Italian restaurant "Giacomo's". He was "the guy of the house" and did everything and did it better than anybody else. In his spare time he enjoyed cars, collecting coins and driving near and far to visit his friends. He was of the Catholic faith and a member of the McAlester Elks Lodge.Survivors include two daughters and one son-in-law, Delores Elaine and Morris Lee Nelms, Plano, Texas, and Dora Lea Brewer, of McAlester; five grandchildren, Terri Bozica and her husband, Matt, Plano, Texas, Tina Coleman and her husband, Lynn, Plano, Texas, Brenda Patton, Grand Prairie, Texas, Pamela Shirley and her husband, Jerry, of Stuart, and Wendell Brewer Jr. and his wife, Jennifer, of McAlester; 15 great-grandchildren, Andrew Bozica, Chloe Coleman, Brandi Coleman and Candice Coleman, all of Plano, Texas, Heather Solomon, Aaron Kerr, and Sabrina Bryan, Grand Prairie, Texas, Allarie Brown and her husband Mike, Gulf Port, Miss., Kevin Shirley and his wife, Christy, of McAlester, Jim Arthur Shirley, of Stuart, Alysha Blundell and her husband, Shane, of Stuart, Amber Hayes, Jennifer Pedigo, and Hunter Brewer, all of McAlester, and Kylie Brewer, Sherman, Texas; 11 great-great-grandchildren, Nathan Fitts, Carmen Brown and Clayton Giacomo Brown, Devon Shirley, Tristan Shirley and Jocelyn Shirley, Destiny Blundell, Kirsten Pedigo, Kolton Cathey and Ayden Hayes and Anthony Stogner, and nieces and nephews, Gail Baldwin, Roseann Robertson, Junior Duff, Michael Duff, Vickie Williams, Sue Coonfield, Darrell Thompson and Diane HuffmanHe was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Eolia, on July 8, 2007; his father and mother-in-law, Oliver and Lula Duff; three brothers, Nunzie (Dick), Dominic and Luch; three sisters, Minnie Duff, Ann Roland and an infant sister, Lucille; a son-in-law, Wendell Brewer Sr.; a granddaughter, Tammie (Brewer) Fox, and a great-great-granddaughter, Kamber Lea Pedigo.Pallbearers will be Jim Shirley, Johnny Bickle, Nathan Fitts, Shane Blundell, Adam Hayes and Chad Prichard.Honorary pallbearers will be Patrick Peters, Lewis Charles Duff Jr., Don Robertson, Mark Adams and John Crittenden.