Philip Leonard Cicero Of Sag Harbor Dies June 24

Philip Leonard Cicero

Philip Leonard Cicero of Sag Harbor died of heart failure on June 24. He was 61.

Born in New York City on July 9, 1950, Mr. Cicero was the eldest of Roseann and Phillip Cicero’s three children. He spent his childhood in East Meadow before the family moved to Sag Harbor in 1972. He learned to swim at Long Beach while on summer vacation in Noyac as a child. Accepted for admission to Chaminade High School in 1967, he was a member of the school’s wrestling and cross county teams and played flute in the school band. He graduated with top honors in 1971, winning scholarships to several prestigious colleges but chose to attend Pratt Institute of Technology in Brooklyn. Proficient in flute and guitar, he played in a band at the Post House in Southampton in the early 1970s.

After graduating from Pratt, he landed a position teaching math in New York City public schools. He went on to obtain a master’s degree in mathematics and another in education from Adelphi University. In 1982, he joined the faculty at William Cullen Bryant High School in Queens. He retired in 2010.

While at William Cullen Bryant High School, Mr. Cicero coached the math team, and also helped prepare students to compete in the prestigious Westinghouse Science Talent Search, now known as the Intel Science Talent Search Competition. In 1987, two of his students were named semi-finalists. Mr. Cicero’s math ability was highly respected by his colleagues, and he taught mathematical research courses to Bryant’s top students. He was also head of the chess club at the school and was known to stay very late into the evening helping his students achieve their goals.

Survivors said Mr. Cicero loved Sag Harbor and spent his summers and weekends at the family house in Noyac. No day in summer was complete for him unless he was swimming or wading the length of Long Beach in the late afternoon. Before severe arthritis limited his movements, he rowed in the upper cove and loved to walk in the local woods. In addition, he tutored many Sag Harbor students on summer vacation.

Funeral arrangements were under the direction of the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor. After a funeral on June 28, Mr. Cicero was interred at St. Andrew’s Cemetery in Sag Harbor.