Obituary for Joseph "Joe" Cimini
Joseph A. “Joe” Cimini, 72, died peacefully, April 9, 2017. Born in Pawtucket, he was son of the late Joseph A. and Rita P. (Pullan) Cimini. Joe lived in Edgewood for 45 years with his loving wife of 46 years, Elizabeth “Liz” (Sullivan) Cimini. Loved by his daughters, Carolyn Kahn (Joel) of Milford, MA, Maria Cimini (Jay Weber), and Loretta M. Cimini, of Providence; siblings, Loretta Doonan (Kenneth) of Providence, RitaMarie Cimini of Caldwell NJ, Thomas Cimini, of Cheshire, CT, Catherine Cimini (Mary Powderly) of Somerset, NJ; niece, Kaitlin Cimini, of West Hartford, CT, nephews, Timothy Cimini of Hartford, CT, and Sebastian Fernandez of Caldwell, NJ, and especially his grandchildren, Charles and Helen Weber of Providence.
After graduating from Pawtucket West and Providence College, he served his country honorably, earning the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the Vietnam war as a member of the Army Corps of Combat Engineers and was employed by the US Postal Service for 23 years.
Before being limited physically as a result of Agent Orange exposure during his service, Joe was happiest in a crowd and participating in community activities. He was a member of the Pawtuxet Athletic Club, Chapter 9 DAV, Loggia Luce Moderna, Friends of the Cranston Public Library, 14th Combat Engineers Battalion Association, Gaspee Days Committee and, for more than 50 years, Joe was an active member of the Community Players of Pawtucket both on stage and off. He was a member of the Real Bearded Santas, and was known as “Santa” at establishments he frequented. He loved to “be” Santa so he would suspend trimming his beard in October of each year to make his presence even more magical for children, those that saw him at formal Santa events, as well as those just catching a glimpse of him, in his Santa hat, driving down Rte. 95.
He loved to throw a party and took great joy feeding family, friends, and even strangers. He made hundreds of meatballs for spaghetti suppers in support of his daughters’ high school and his family looked forward to St. Joseph’s Day lasagna all year.
Joe could talk. He was known to say “to make a long story short” when it was far too late to do so, he loved the drama of a tall tale, the build up to a joke, garnering an audience’s full attention through recitations of Casey at the Bat and the Owl and the Pussycat, and he was always up for a debate, even when wrong, he could argue indefinitely that he was right, about all things, at all times.
Joe was Rhode Island. He knew where every land mark used to be, frequented local institutions like Chelo’s, Gregg’s, Benny’s, and Job Lot, loved coffee milk, clam cakes, and Eye of Storm zinfandel, and was even lucky enough to own a sailboat for a short time in which he loved to go up and down Narragansett Bay. As much as Joe was an extrovert, speaking to strangers in any line he happened to find himself and oohing and aahing over every baby he saw, nothing could match the love he had for his family. Joe was generous with time, talent, and advice, boastful of his daughters’ accomplishments, and overjoyed with his grandchildren.
His presence will be sorely missed.
Calling hours will be held Monday, April 17 from 5-8pm, at Monahan, Drabble, and Sherman, 230 Waterman St, Providence, RI 02906. A mass of Christian Burial will be Tuesday, April 18 at 10am at St Paul Church, 30 Warwick Ave., Cranston. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to St. Paul School, 1789 Broad St, Cranston, RI, 02905.
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After graduating from Pawtucket West and Providence College, he served his country honorably, earning the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the Vietnam war as a member of the Army Corps of Combat Engineers and was employed by the US Postal Service for 23 years.
Before being limited physically as a result of Agent Orange exposure during his service, Joe was happiest in a crowd and participating in community activities. He was a member of the Pawtuxet Athletic Club, Chapter 9 DAV, Loggia Luce Moderna, Friends of the Cranston Public Library, 14th Combat Engineers Battalion Association, Gaspee Days Committee and, for more than 50 years, Joe was an active member of the Community Players of Pawtucket both on stage and off. He was a member of the Real Bearded Santas, and was known as “Santa” at establishments he frequented. He loved to “be” Santa so he would suspend trimming his beard in October of each year to make his presence even more magical for children, those that saw him at formal Santa events, as well as those just catching a glimpse of him, in his Santa hat, driving down Rte. 95.
He loved to throw a party and took great joy feeding family, friends, and even strangers. He made hundreds of meatballs for spaghetti suppers in support of his daughters’ high school and his family looked forward to St. Joseph’s Day lasagna all year.
Joe could talk. He was known to say “to make a long story short” when it was far too late to do so, he loved the drama of a tall tale, the build up to a joke, garnering an audience’s full attention through recitations of Casey at the Bat and the Owl and the Pussycat, and he was always up for a debate, even when wrong, he could argue indefinitely that he was right, about all things, at all times.
Joe was Rhode Island. He knew where every land mark used to be, frequented local institutions like Chelo’s, Gregg’s, Benny’s, and Job Lot, loved coffee milk, clam cakes, and Eye of Storm zinfandel, and was even lucky enough to own a sailboat for a short time in which he loved to go up and down Narragansett Bay. As much as Joe was an extrovert, speaking to strangers in any line he happened to find himself and oohing and aahing over every baby he saw, nothing could match the love he had for his family. Joe was generous with time, talent, and advice, boastful of his daughters’ accomplishments, and overjoyed with his grandchildren.
His presence will be sorely missed.
Calling hours will be held Monday, April 17 from 5-8pm, at Monahan, Drabble, and Sherman, 230 Waterman St, Providence, RI 02906. A mass of Christian Burial will be Tuesday, April 18 at 10am at St Paul Church, 30 Warwick Ave., Cranston. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to St. Paul School, 1789 Broad St, Cranston, RI, 02905.
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