Nicholas Francis DiMassimo

He was born NICHOLAS FRANCIS DIMASSIMO on Dec. 5, 1912 to Carmella and Eustachio DiMassimo, in a small, Italian, hill town named Tocca da Casauria. He didn't stay there long for in 1916 his mother and older sisters packed up all their belongings, carried him to Naples where the SS Dante Alighieri carried him across the Atlantic past Ellis Island to join his father and older brother and begin his American Dream. He was the youngest of five children, (Mary, Anna, Grace, Carmine, (all deceased)) and was the center of a large, vibrant, Connecticut based, Italian family whose love for Nick and his love for them endured across thousands of miles, decades of separation and continues to this day. Gifted with a remarkable tenor voice and looks to match, he spent much of the '30's in New York's Greenwich Village with avant garde artists, actors and others drawn to the city. Always doing things his way, he would accept a cup of coffee and a piece of pie from a friend, but he would rebuff the William Morris Agency when they wouldn't immediately make him a leading man. He sang on cruise ships, sailing to Cuba and the West Indies, until, by 1939, the shipping lanes had become unsafe. He enlisted in the Army a few months after Pearl Harbor and continued to entertain, this time for the troops, on radio and in concerts. When in England, his fellow soldiers swore they didn't need the air raid sirens because Nick could hear the German planes before they reached the Channel. He made the rank of Sergeant but his singing talent kept him out of combat until his CO finally tired of his pleas to be sent to battle. By early summer of 1945 he was in France awaiting deployment to the Pacific. When the last Axis power formally surrendered in September, Truman became his favorite President. He returned to Connecticut to be with his family and attend school under the GI Bill. He honored his parents and would do anything his mother asked. Whenever he had a date with someone who didn't meet his mother's approval (and who ever did?), she would suddenly decide that Nick should take her to church. And that is just what he did while his dates were left to wonder with dreams dashed and hearts broken. On her deathbed, Carmella told him, "Nick, you should get married!" and as he walked out of the funeral home after choosing his mother's casket, he saw a lovely, young woman rushing down the boarding house stairs from across the street. She was an Arkansas girl and her name was Faye Jones. He knew immediately that she was "the one". He learned that she taught at the University of Bridgeport, enrolled in one of her classes, and "flirted with me shamelessly" she would laugh and say. He took her to Coney Island and asked her to marry him. She accepted and so began a love story that lasted over 65 years. They were married in El Dorado on Aug. 28, 1948, moved back to Connecticut but returned to Arkansas to stay in 1956. He gave up "show business" though he continued to sing, this time for family, friends and church. He taught us all the Broadway musicals of the day and when all was well, he serenaded Faye with Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine", and when all was not with Verdi's "La Donna e Mobile". He obtained a Masters of Education in History (1967) from UCA and taught at Joe T. Robinson and other public and private schools but he preferred to stay in sales and enjoyed the freedom it gave him as he traveled across his adopted state. Though not tall in stature, his love for his family was giant. Unquestioning, always accepting, never judging and always faithful. In the past few years when Faye could no longer keep up with his daily outings to respite and exercise, he would look for her whenever he came home, touch her hand and be content to sit across the room from her for hours. After viewing Faye in the funeral home on Dec. 30, he simply stated, "I loved her very much." He died on Jan. 30. He is survived by his children, Rick DiMassimo (Ann) and Lisa Griffith; his grandchildren, Walker (Hilary) and Rachel DiMassimo; his great-granddaughters, Sophia and Savannah DiMassimo and Neveah Evans; and his loving nieces, Gloria Coughlin, Carol Goldie and Frances (Vincent) Delmore of Florida. A funeral Mass for both Faye and Nick will be held at Christ the King Catholic Church on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. Donations in his memory may be sent to the Respite programs at Pulaski Heights Methodist Church in Little Rock or to St. Luke's Episcopal Church in North Little Rock. Online obituary at www.SmithFamilyCares.com.