March 15, 1957 - February 13, 2013
Mark was born March 15, 1957. Son of Nick DiGiacomo (deceased) and Dolores DiGiacomo, Father of Mark Jr and Siblings of Kathleen Trujillo, Nick DiGiacomo (Rhonda), Lynda Halterman (Tom), Tom DiGiacomo, Michael DiGiacomo (Elisa), Mary Anne DiGiacomo, Bridget Whipple (Alan), and Maureen Schaul (Frank) and many nieces and nephews.
Mark was born in Denver and grew up mostly in the city of Westminster. He went to St. Patrick’s Catholic School, Sky Line Vista, Scott Carpenter, and Ranum High School. Mark worked with his father in the restaurant and liquor store business until his father passed. He then worked with Michael, his brother, for nine years as a painter. He was a hard working painter by trade for 25 years.
Of all nine children he was the most mischievous, colorful, and daring little boy by far. He was our Dennis the Menace. Here is a collection of some of our favorite stories from Marks life. Now picture this…
Mark was a child with enormous energy, spunk and tons of bravado. One day he decided he was going to experiment with water. He took the hose and sprinkler, opened the sliding glass door and watered the brown carpet to turn it green. Mother quickly caught this and turned off the water.
One day he opened the refrigerator and climbed in. Our Papa (Grandfather) opened the refrigerator and said, “ Marco whatch ya doing in the frig???” “Papa I want to be dinner tonight”, replied Mark.
After a day of school Mark came home from kindergarten with wet pants. Mother asked him, “Mark what happened”? “Mom you will never believe this, a mouse jumped up out of a crack in the sidewalk and threw a bucket of water on my pants!”
Mark decided one day that he would open the side door of our house and do an Evil Knievel ride on his Schwin Bike down the basement stairs. In the end there were no broken bones but a broken door that he crashed into at the bottom. Make no mistake about Mark, he broke more bones than Evil Knievel eventually.
“Fire, Fire, Fire!!” Did someone say Fire? Mark set fires… He caught the empty field behind our house next to the Boulder turn pike on fire several times, keeping the local fire department adequately staffed for the City of Westminster. Thank you Westminster Fire Department! However, our mother put the fire out that Mark started to our back fence and gave the fire department the day off.
One day Mark said to Tom Halterman, our brother in law, “Tom your shoes are untied”. Mark had secretly untied them and when Tom went to tie them, Mark had a pair of scissors and quickly tried to cut his pompadour hair style. Although he didn’t succeed it wasn’t the last prank he tried to pull.
Growing up, Mark had a friend Jim Chaffee who lived across the street. There was no end to what troubles that they could get into. For instance, they went fishing at Hidden Lake one summer day. No fish were biting so they decided to go skinny dipping. Mark got out of the pond, took Jims clothes and threw them up in a tree. Sooner or later they had to go home and Jim was forced to ride his Schwin Bike in his wet underwear, extremely mad and red. Mark had a smirk all the way home.
Mark loved to dance and boy did he! He could give John Travolta a run for his money. He loved dancing so much that when he was in the fourth grade he decided to show off his dance moves on the teacher’s desk while she left the room. When she returned, she did not have as much enthusiasm as the kids. He danced his way to his second home, the principal’s office.
As Mark grew up and became a man, he was a lot fun, very witty, and always kept people laughing. Most importantly he was kind, gentle, and loving. He loved and adored his family.
Nothing was more important to him beside his son Mark Jr., a great Italian meal, and the Denver Broncos. He loved rigatoni and fried chicken and John Elway.
He was a very loving father, always giving his son what he needed and always putting him first before his own needs. Mark was so proud of his son that he always said, “Mark Jr. is the best thing I have ever done”.
Aside of his love for his family and good food, his next greatest love was the Denver Broncos and the Sunday games. There is no doubt he will be in heaven cheering on his team and who knows we may win the super bowl next year!
Memorial Mass will be at 10:00 am Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 at Saint Patricks Catholic Church, 3325 Pecos, Denver with burial of ashes to follow at Olinger Crown Hill Cemetery. For those who would like, feel free to dress in the attire of his beloved Broncos.
Memorial contributions to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Building Fund, 3549 Navajo St, Denver, CO 80211 or Adams County Animal Shelter- Donation Fund 10705 Fulton St. Brighton, CO 80601 ( please put "In memory of Mark Di Giacomo" in memo on check for proper distibution of gift.)
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