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Philip DiGiacomo of Westhampton Beach died on January 4. He was 76.
Born December 29, 1939, Mr. DiGiacomo was a gardener, fisherman, motorhead, builder, family man and friend to many, survivors said. He was practicing “farm to table” years before chefs in Brooklyn were canning their own tuna (something he often did after bringing home a Big Eye from the Canyon). He loved to feed his family and friends and could often be found inviting strangers to come and “pick some vegetables from my garden.” He felt a tremendous sense of pride when he had sourced all of the ingredients on his plate. “We only had to purchase the olive oil and the pepper from the store,” he would often say.
His family was a great source of joy. He married his high school sweetheart, Kathleen, and embarked on the adventure of raising children. They had five children (he wanted 12) and nine grandchildren. He particularly fancied the women in his life. He cared lovingly for his mother Frances, who predeceased him, and his younger sister, Mary Deaton of Maryland. As siblings they shared the same dry sense of humor and an affinity for cheating at checkers, something all of his children learned from his father Salvatore, who also predeceased him.
Mr. DiGiacomo and his wife retired to Westhampton Beach near his daughters, Virginia and Elaine. It is here that he loved to spend his time fishing, gardening, cooking meals, helping out with home improvements and conversing with his grandchildren, Harly, Nicholas, Danae, Philip, Alexandra, Daniel, Edmund, Nicole and Sebastian.
He excelled at growing things and building things. He spent his career in Manhattan, running the commercial construction company he founded with his father, S. DiGiacomo and Son, and later ran with his brother James, who predeceased him, and his sons, Stephen and Damian. He spent a lot of time with his boys, building cars in the basement, coaching their sports teams and later riding motorcycles. His son John recalls many of his famous teachings, to name a few: Count your blessings, not your shortcomings; the harder you work the luckier you get; praise is an incredibly effective motivator; you must forgive to be forgiven; legacy is overrated.
Mr. DiGiacomo had a fashion sense of his own. He was proud of his rope belts and recycled or handmade T-shirts. He could often be found wearing a shirt his granddaughter made and bragging to the guys on the docks “my granddaughter made me this!” He would not accept clothes for Christmas or for birthdays unless he needed them, which he never did, and would send the giver straight back to the store to get their hard-earned money back. He never wore a watch—he was often late—and he had really good hair.
He was a deeply religious man, and prayed daily for the people he knew and for many he did not. He was a good friend to the Jesuit priests at Fordham University and a longtime parishioner of Immaculate Conception Church on Quiogue and The Holy Family Church in New Rochelle, where he and his wife raised their family. He wished for a simple Catholic Mass and a little piece of him to be scattered at sea.
A funeral Mass will be held at the Church of the Immaculate Conception on Quiogue on Saturday, January 16, at 10 a.m.
Memorial donations may be made to the Immaculate Conception Church, Good Shepherd Hospice in Port Jefferson or the charity of your choice.
on Jan 11, 2016