Vito Anthony Acciarito

Vito Anthony Acciarito, 93, passed away on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 in Arlington. Funeral Mass: 11:00 a.m. Thursday, May 24, at St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church, 1200 S. Davis Drive, Arlington. Rosary prior to service at 10:30 a.m. Visitation: 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, May 23, at Wade Family Funeral Home, 4140 W. Pioneer Parkway, Arlington. Vito was born August 1, 1924 in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York City, to Joseph and Josephine Blangiardo Acciarito. When Vito was 3, the family moved to Brooklyn. They lived in a multi-family home owned by his grandparents, with relatives living in each of the apartments. Dad was born during the Roaring 20's and grew up in the Depression, but by all accounts, it was more of a charmed life than anything else. Surrounded by love with dozens if not hundreds of family members, Papa never wanted for anyone with whom to play sports, have fun, or even to get into a little boyish mischief. Dad was first generation American. Most of his family and relatives came over from Sicily in the early part of the 20th Century. His mother and aunts arrived in New York Harbor on the 4th of July, and had to stay on the boat for an extra day, because Ellis Island was closed for the holiday. Throughout our lives with Dad and Mom, whenever we moved, we always arrived at our new home on the 4th of July. Family and friends were always important to Dad. An illustration of this was that in grade school Dad was awarded a scholarship to a prestigious New York high school. His principal told him that no one in the 50-year history of their school had ever been awarded such a scholarship. Dad turned it down because it was far from their neighborhood and Dad didn't want to leave all his friends. He never told me this until after both of his parents had died, because he had never told them! I was stunned. After serving in World War II, Dad went to Columbia University to study Architecture. Even with his G.I. Bill it was too expensive, so the Dean of Architecture told him, “You know Vito, there's a great architecture school at Oklahoma, and they have a great architect as one of their professors.” So after a year at Columbia, Dad went to O.U. to get his architecture degree under Bruce Goff, among others. I always loved this story. As a kid, I had this vision of this young Italian from New York City riding the train out to the “Wild, Wild, West” and getting off in “the middle of nowhere”, probably expecting to see Cowboys and Indians. But his face would always light up and he would talk about how much he loved Oklahoma and the people, and how much they loved him while he was there. While at O.U., Dad became friends with a local family and they took him into their home. So instead of living alone in an apartment or in a rowdy dorm, Dad was once again surrounded by the love of a family, and he spent most of his time at O.U. living with them. Dad also got to witness Coach Bud Wilkinson and the Sooner Football Team set many long-standing national records for most consecutive wins and National Championships. After graduation, Dad was hired by Howard Meyer, the most famous architect in Dallas history. It was a very prestigious experience. Dad met Nancy Harris, a fashion model and Braniff (The 1st Braniff) flight attendant, and they married in 1955. Soon Andy and Cathy came along. Even though working with Howard Meyer was a coveted position, Dad needed more benefits for his young family. So Dad took a position with the General Services Administration of the U.S. Government. GSA takes care of all government property, from paper clips to skyscrapers. Dad worked his way up in GSA and retired as Director of Buildings Management for Region 7. This meant Dad was responsible for every government building in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and New Mexico. Dad spent his retirement getting in Mom's way around the house, loving his family, loving his friends, playing golf every week with the Arlington Senior Men's Golf Association, hanging out with the Italians in Arlington at the Italian Villa Restaurant, and generally being full of life, love and joy. Vito means “Life”, and Papa was full of life. He was the sweetest and happiest man you ever met. Papa loved everyone and treated them like family, and everyone loved him. All of our friends would always ask us, “How's Vito? What's Vito doing?” They loved him because he always treated our friends like they were his own kids. We love you Papa, and you will live in our Hearts Forever! Vito was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Josephine Acciarito; and brother, Frank Acciarito. Survivors: Wife, Nan Harris Acciarito; son, Andy Acciarito and wife, Cindy; daughter, Cathy Williams and husband, Don; brother, Joe Acciarito and wife, Grace; and numerous other family members and friends. Wade Family Funeral Home (817) 274-9233