Peter A. DiCiero

Salem

Peter A. DiCiero - loving husband, son, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend, who enjoyed a decades-long career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture - passed away on Thursday, Oct. 21 at his home surrounded by his family after a period of declining health. He was 55.

Born in Lowell, Mass., on April 18, 1966 and raised in neighboring Chelmsford, Pete was a 1984 Chelmsford High School graduate and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in criminal justice in 1996 from UMass Lowell.

Having first worked as a long-haul trucker and later in security, he joined the USDA in 1990s as a member of the federal agency's Agricultural Marketing Service. As a market reporter for the USDA's Specialty Crops Program, Pete collected, analyzed and recorded daily prices for agricultural commodities. Based at the New England Produce Center in Chelsea, Mass., the job took him to Phoenix, Ariz., for a year and to stops at markets and ports across the country, introducing him to people from all walks of life. He loved it.

Pete's gregarious nature was also on full display when discussing politics or rooting for the New England Patriots and reveling in the team's many Super Bowl victories. A fixture on the region's club scene, he was a well-known bass player, having performed with many cover bands, including Kangaroo Court, Scorch and The Take. A shared love of music led him to meet his future wife, Nancy Fratus DiCiero; the couple married in 2010.

Pete was predeceased by his parents, Carol (Belejack) and Salvatore DiCiero; uncle Bob DiCiero and mother-in-law Kum Fratus.

Pete's greatest treasure was his many friends and family, which grew exponentially twice in his life: first, when his father married Doris (Najarian) Sielian DiCiero and Pete welcomed a second mom, more sisters and a brother, and then when he married his beloved Nancy. Along with her, he is survived by Nancy's son Daniel Fratus and his children, Arielle and Gabriel, to whom Pete was a wonderful grandfather, all of Salem; sister Martha and her husband George of Londonderry, N.H.; Pete's second mom Doris and sisters Julie Penney of Merrimack, N.H.; Susan Sielian McCormack and her husband Michael of Chelmsford; brother Michael Sielian and his wife Martina of Westford, Mass.; nieces and nephews Katherine Starkey of Londonderry; Meaghan and Shailagh McCormack and Alyssa Penney of Chelmsford; Nicole Penney of Merrimack; Jack, Elizabeth and Benjamin Sielian of Westford; by cousins and dozens of friends.

Following cremation, celebration of life calling hours will be held on Saturday, October 30, 2021 from 12:00pm to 4:00pm in the Douglas & Johnson Funeral Home, 214 Main St., Salem, NH. To send a message of condolence to the family, please view the obituary at www.douglasandjohnson.com.



View the online memorial for Peter A. DiCiero