STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -m Native Staten Islander Peter C. Nicotina, 83, of Freehold, N.J., a retired businessman who was tireless in his devotion to his family and community, died Thursday in Applewood Skilled Nursing Center, Freehold, where he had been a patient for several weeks.
Born and raised in Great Kills, he lived there until relocating to Freehold 10 years ago.
A graduate of Tottenville High School, Mr. Nicotina served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the mid-1950s, stationed stateside. After his discharge in 1956, he joined the Reserves.
He had a varied career, working first in insurance sales for MetLife and New York Life and Casualty, then became involved in the employment agency business, entering a partnership in Bergen Square Employment Agency in New Jersey. He eventually founded his own company on Staten Island, Beltech Securities, specializing in residential alarms, and continued as a consultant after retiring at age 62.
Mr. Nicotina was an active member of the Staten Island Chapter of the Leukemia Society of America, helping in many capacities, and was for many years a member of the board of directors of the Conference House Association.
His greatest community involvement, however, was through the Rotary Club. A proud member of the South Shore Rotary, he was named Rotarian of the Year for 1984-1985 and served as its president in 1990-1991. He was instrumental in the formation of Gateway Rotary Club in 1991. In 2001, he was named a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow.
He worked on many club fundraisers and initiated the $10,000 Raffle. He also wrote the "Petesez" column in the weekly Rotary newsletter, which he later published in book form, donating the proceeds to South Shore Rotary's Charity Fund.
Mr. Nicotina was an avid golfer, and played at Staten Island courses as well as Cranbury Golf Club in West Windsor, N.J., where he was a member. He relished the hole-in-one he shot in 2003.
"He had a great sense of humor," said his wife of 59 years, the former Ann Marie De Rose. "He left us with a lot of good memories."
She continued: "He doted on his grandchildren. In his book, 'Petesez,' he thanked his daughter, Joanne, and son-in-law, Robert [Vaccaro], for blessing him with Laura, Michael and Lisa."
On the Island, Mr. Nicotina was a parishioner of St. Clare's R.C. Church, Great Kills. In Freehold, he attended St. Robert Bellarmine R.C. Church.
The funeral will be Monday from the Casey McCallum Rice South Shore Funeral Home, Great Kills, with a mass at 11 a.m. in St. Clare's Church. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.
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