John N Digiacomo

Longtime Arvada, Colorado resident, John N. DiGiacomo, passed away peacefully of natural causes with his family near him on December 27th, he was 93. An extremely proud WWII Navy veteran, he served 26 years in the military including 11 years in the Air Force. After his retirement in 1969, the family returned to the Denver area, where he grew up. Family business opportunities and the chance to raise his 6 children in his beloved Colorado brought them back. He worked another 25 years in the Denver area before finally retiring at 65 in time to pursue his two passions, fishing and travelling.

John was born to Ascenzo and Madelene DiGiacomo, of Trinidad, Colorado, in Rawlins, Wyoming in 1924. He had three brothers and sisters, Katherine (b. 1920,) Mary (b. 1922,) and Nick (b. 1926.) They lived there and in Kansas City, Missouri until after their divorce. When he was 5 years old, they moved back to Colorado and settled in the coal-mining towns of Firestone-Frederick, along the beautiful Front Range. Living within the Italian community reinforced his strong connection and lifestyle brought from the old country by his father and neighbors.

A year after graduating from Frederick High School in 1942, in a class of 20 during the height of World War II, he enlisted in the Navy. He was stationed on the USS Monrovia, a troop ship in the Pacific Fleet. He proudly served his time as a storekeeper and shared many real life war stories and fantastic adventures he had in Asia. John returned to Denver in 1946, joined the Navy Reserve, and worked a few years before reenlisting in the Navy in 1948. He served almost 10 years at Buckley Air Station until he enlisted in Air Force in 1958.

While at Buckley and living at home with his mother, Madelene, he met his wife Marlene in 1953, through a mutual friend, and they married in 1956. They spent a few years living at his mom’s raising their children, David Robert (b. 1952) and Jeanenne Kay (b. 1957,) with his wife learning to cook Italian food, which we were all very appreciative of our whole life. A few years after getting married, John was stationed in Iceland. They moved to Oakland, California at which time John Ascenzo (b. 1959) was born. While John was away for that year, Marlene moved the family to her hometown Minneapolis to be closer to family.

Upon returning from Iceland, John and the family started a whirlwind decade, encompassing three very different states, thousands of miles of travel, three different Air Force bases and countless hours packing and unpacking. They lived in Grand Forks, North Dakota (3 ½ yrs.) where Jeffrey Ernest (b. 1961) was born, in Alaska (3 ½ yrs.) where Jennifer Maria (b. 1965) was born and a year in Kansas. The horizontal snow, cold, wind, humidity and wide-open prairie of North Dakota gave way to similar conditions in Alaska, but the amazing scenery and the diversity of things to experience made it bearable and actually exciting for all of us.

In 1969, after a year in Wichita, Kansas, John retired from the active military, having served 24 years. The family returned to Arvada and had their 6th child and last son, Joseph Theodore (b. 1970.) He came so late in their life he was called the blessed ‘accident’ as they would say to family and friends. His civilian life would now begin.

John had an infectious entrepreneurial spirit and was always looking for ‘the magic business’ to meet his financial dreams providing for his family. He preferred being a sole proprietor in his many business ventures. Most notably, he owned and managed a bar for 12 years, a car rental business for 10 years, both in North Denver, and a specialty meat processing plant for 5 years.

He tried numerous other interesting and wild ventures that often employed his children, which allowed them to save money and helped all six of them receive college educations. He taught his children perseverance and instilled in them a strong work ethic. One of his favorite saying was, “you know what The Secret to Making Money is?—Go To Work!

After retiring, he occupied his time and satisfied his need to be around people by fishing around the state and volunteering for over 25 years. He worked for many charitable and political organizations until he was 90 years old. Volunteering at the Arvada Reservoir as a Ranger for 25 yrs., delivering meals to the elderly for Meals on Wheels for over 15 yrs. and helping on many political campaigns were his favorites.

He absolutely loved to travel, often alone, with some of his favorite places being: Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and his beloved Italy. Also, he pursued a lifelong quest to visit all 50 states, which he accomplished in May of 2014, on an amazing trip to Rhode Island with his wife, Jeanenne and Joe who gave him the trip as a surprise. He was honored and really cherished the opportunity to participate in the, all expenses paid, Honor Flight program in October of 2012. He was flown to Washington D.C. and toured the WWII and Air Force Memorials with other veterans.

For most of his life he longed for the next day of fishing or planning the next fishing adventure. He primarily fished lakes and religiously wrote down in a log each location and his successes for the day. His favorite by far was Arvada Reservoir in the foothills of Denver 3 miles from his house. He was a ‘break of day’ fisherman that probably witnessed more beautiful sunrises with his companions on the dock than anyone we knew. He often sat on shore alone with his two rods passing the day in some of the most beautiful settings in the state. He loved telling stories of fishing in Canada, Alaska and of course Colorado. He stayed active fishing until he was 90.

John was a huge sports fan and spectator his entire life; up until the day he left us. It started as a young man watching Joe DiMaggio with the Yankees and he even watched tailback Byron ‘Whizzer’ White, the future Chief Justice of the U.S., play in a football game at the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1937. He even took his wife to two Yankees games on their honeymoon in New York in 1956. A lifelong Broncos fan and an avid Rockies fan along with other Denver teams, he attended hundreds of games and would proudly root for any athlete born or schooled in Colorado. Also, in retirement he made it a point to go to countless games that his grandchildren and friend’s children participated in and even coached.

He was a pretty good athlete and in his 30’s played softball in men’s leagues in both North Dakota and Alaska. He loved horseshoes and was very good at it. He was an accomplished bowler and set many significant personal and team records in over 20 years of bowling. He especially enjoyed playing on a team with his wife and his sister Mary and brother in law, Frank Giardino in church leagues at Western Bowl in Arvada.

His many hobbies and interests kept his mind occupied his entire life. A documenter of life, John was an avid still and movie photographer early in his life. That is something we are all very thankful. He loved cars and had many classic cars prior to getting married, with his favorite being a 1955 Olds Holiday, two door that he ordered and picked up with his father in Detroit. He was in a poker club with many dear friends for over 20 years. He was an avid collector of many things including toy cars, souvenir spoons of states and presidents, some coins and the maps of all 50 states. One of his primary collections and his favorite was collecting the state quarter series to give to his family.

Family was at the core of John’s life, starting with the special connection to his extended Italian family from his mother’s side, the Cortese clan of Fort Sumner and Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he learned the ranching lifestyle from his uncles and cousins, to interacting with his grandchildren who lived in Denver, Durango and other parts of Colorado. He was fortunate to have his sister Mary (Frank) and brother Nick (Dolores) and their families close to him in the metro area and was close to all of their children. He had extended family in California where his sister Katherine lived with her children along with an aunt, multiple cousins and their extended families.

After retiring he read the Denver Post daily, especially the sports page, job classifieds and the obituaries. On a daily basis, he enjoyed an Italian antipasti lunch with hard salami and asiago cheese. He especially loved it when he still had some of his beloved, ‘Papa John’s Olives,’ to eat. He made large batches of olives with his special recipe throughout his lifetime and shared quart jars of them with countless relatives and friends. All cherished them and “those that tried them liked them.”

John’s health issues, primarily his heart condition, caused him to slow down the last few years of his life, but that did not stop him from playing board games, which he enjoyed with his family his entire life. Late in life he took up playing ‘Upwords,’ one of his wife’s favorites, and played 5-6 days a week with her and sometimes with his kids. He was fiercely competitive, but never took it too seriously. He played his last game on December 7th, 2017, and won! We will especially miss his humor and goofiness while playing the ‘golf’ card game with his family.

His good nature and humor, his ability to talk with anyone and his devotion to helping those that needed it most were his redeeming qualities in business and in life; they were the core of who he was. He walked this earth feeling that, ‘no boss, no employee, no person, no dignitary-- no one’ was above him or below him. It could not be argued that his unique brand of ‘charisma’ was based on these most admirable qualities.

John was “a good man” as many said about him, and lived life to the fullest with what he had and the gifts he was given, which were numerous. He was humble, proud and epitomized the word ‘personable’ and as many said, “He never met a stranger.” All those that he touched in his life will sorely miss him. Like his dear sister Mary said upon the news of his passing, “There will never be another John.” Amen.

John was preceded in death by his mother Madelene Cribari; father, Ascenzo DiGiacomo: brother, Nick DiGiacomo; sister, Kathyrn Wortiska and brother-in-law, John and all of his great aunts and uncles on both sides.

He is survived by his devoted wife, Marlene of 61 years, son David DiGiacomo and daughter-in law, Leeanne; daughter Jeanenne Habegger and son-in-law Chad, sons Ascenzo DiGiacomo and Jeff DiGiacomo, Jennifer DiGiacomo and son-in-law, Rida; son Joe DiGiacomo; 16 grandchildren; 7 great-grand children; sister Mary Giardino, brother-in-law, Joe and sister-in-law Dolores DiGiacomo, as well as 31 nieces and nephews. Other survivors include a host of relatives and friends.

The memorial will held on Sunday, January 21st at 2P.M. at King Of Glory Lutheran Church, 10001 W. 58th Ave., Arvada, CO 80002. Officiated by Pastor Karl Wyneken (An uncle from California)

Special thanks to The Denver Hospice who managed his care and to Carrie the CNA, who daily, brought a special element of compassionate, warmth and gentleness.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to: Air Force Aid Society, Arvada Food Bank, Meals on Wheels or King of Glory Lutheran Church.