Theodore Braccolino

POLAND - It is with heartfelt sadness that we announce the passing of Theodore (Ted) V. Braccolino at 4:30 pm on July 16, 2020.
Ted was born in Brooklyn N.Y. on September 24,1932 to Lawrence Braccolino and Mary Perrone Braccolino. The youngest of his siblings, he grew up on St. Mark's Avenue in the Bedford-Stuysevant district of Brooklyn and attended St. Mary’s Catholic School. Ted graduated from the prestigious Brooklyn Technical High School in New York and enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served as a radio operator at Fort Benning, GA during the Korean War. He later attended New York University and moved to Youngstown in 1954 where he joined his sister Cecilia Esposito and her husband Joe. Ted met his wife, the former Dorothy Ciccotelli, at the Elm’s Ballroom in 1955 and they were married on September 1,1956. A draftsman throughout his career, Ted worked at U.S. Steel, Valley Steel, and retired from Wean United (Danielli Wean) in 1990. He also worked at Boardman Steel, taught at the School of Drafting and Design at ITT Technical Institute in the late 1960’s, and held a U.S. Patent for designing a distributor for falling granular material.Throughout his life, Ted maintained an immaculate yard and loved reading and watching documentaries about WWII. He enjoyed taking his two daughters to planetarium shows at YSU and to various science fairs in the area and volunteered at bingo and festivals at St. Joseph’s Church in Campbell. He and his wife enjoyed traveling and loved to go dancing on a Saturday evening, where the couple developed many wonderful friendships and enjoyed entertaining at their home. Above all, Ted enjoyed holidays and Sunday family meals at his home, at his daughter Linda and son-in-law Nick’s home in Hubbard, and also at his daughter Diane and son-in-law Frank’s home in Copley, Ohio. Ted greatly looked forward to seeing and especially cherished spending time with his three grandchildren when they visited the area frequently from Copley and later from Massachusetts.  He showed his tremendous pride in and support for his grandchildren’s accomplishments by wearing the Harvard College and College of the Holy Cross apparel that he requested they get for him from their alma maters.

Ted will always be remembered for his love of people, and especially for his enthusiasm to see family and friends. He offered generous words of encouragement to his many dear nephews and nieces, who appreciated his fatherly guidance.

Over the years, Ted was the most loyal patron and advocate of dining at the family restaurants, currently Giangelo’s and The Caffe Capri, where he not only enjoyed countless bowls of delicious wedding soup and pasta dishes, but was always treated royally. He never let anything stand in his way of taking his wife and daughters out to dinner on a Friday night— he truly loved getting together with “the Family”, and of being with people he enjoyed. In his later years, Ted greatly looked forward to his Wednesday breakfast gatherings with his dear friends (Joe, Norm, Jerry, and Ed, among others) at the Mocha House in Boardman. Special thanks to Mocha House owners Anna and Jimmy, who were especially welcoming and treated him like family. In addition, many of the wonderful management and staff at the Giant Eagle store in Boardman knew him and were incredibly kind to him as he visited there every morning to enjoy a cup of coffee and a bagel or donut, and to pick up a newspaper for his wife. He cherished the many friends and acquaintances he made on these excursions and we thank everyone for their kindness towards Ted.
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Ted leaves to cherish his precious memory his wife of 64 years, Dorothy; his daughter Linda Yourst of Hubbard, his daughter Diane (Dr. Frank) Gerberich of Wilbraham, MA, and three grandchildren, Dr. Brandon Gerberich of Rahway NJ; Lauren Gerberich (fiance’ Jamie Sanchez) of Stamford CT, and Diana Gerberich of Chicago, IL. He also leaves a sister-in-law Jenny Braccolino of Staten Island, N.Y., a sister-in-law Marie Sikora of Boardman, and many nieces and nephews in the Youngstown and New York areas.

Ted was predeceased by his parents, his sisters Consiglio and Philomena, his sister Mary Horenstein and husbands Louis Grippo and Lee Horenstein of Staten Island, N.Y., a sister Cecilia Esposito and husband Joseph Esposito of Struthers, a brother Dominic Braccolino of Staten Island, N.Y., nephews Rocco Grippo and Larry Braccolino of New York, along with several sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law in Youngstown including Ronald and Joanne Quaranta, Mike and Yolanda Quaranto, Anthony and Marylou Ciccotelli, Paul Sikora Sr., and Louis Ciccotelli. He was also predeceased by his son-in-law, Nicholas J. Yourst.
Family and friends may call Monday from 11 to 11:45 a.m. at Christ the Good Shepherd, St. Joseph the Provider Church, 633 Porter Ave. Campbell, Ohio, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 12 p.m. noon. Special thanks to the management and staff at Hampton Woods Skilled Nursing facility and to Hospice of the Valley for the attentive and compassionate care they gave to Ted throughout his time at Hampton Woods.
Professional arrangements are being handled by the Higgins-Reardon Funeral Homes, Poland Chapel.