BUFFALO, N.Y. — Anthony Scaccia passed on Sunday after a brief illness. He was 87.
Mr. Scaccia, known to generations of customers in South Buffalo as "Tony the Barber" died after a brief illness, according to Anthony Scaccia, who survives him.
Mr. Scaccia operated his barber shop on Seneca Street near Kamper Street for 62 years.
Tony the Barber
For many a South Buffalonian, Mr. Scaccia's barber shop was the place they came for their first haircut, and for many others, the place they took their own children for theirs.
According to his son, Mr. Scaccia immigrated to the United States from Sicily when he was 16, along with the rest of his family who initially settled in the Italian neighborhood on Buffalo's West Side.
"They came came seeking the American Dream," he said. "My grandfather was a barber too, and opened a shop in South Buffalo. His name was Charlie, and my dad worked for him for a time before he opened his own place on Seneca Street."
Mr. Scaccia married Yolanda Raccanelleni who also cut hair, and together the couple raised three children who all became barbers and hair stylists.
"I was probably ten years old when I went in for my first haircut there," said Jim Hayes, 73, who became a lifetime customer and friend of Mr. Scaccia.
"I was in Vietnam in 1968 and I wrote Tony a letter, and five years ago Tony showed me the letter. He said, 'I could never throw the letter away'. He kept it all that time. I was almost in tears. He was that thoughtful and he told me he prayed for me every day I was over there. That's the kind of person he was."
Pillar of his Community
Far more than friend and confidant to his customers, Mr. Saccia was also a pillar of the South Buffalo community. Several years ago, he was recognized for his civic involvement by the Erie County Legislature with a proclamation marking what was then his 50th year in business.
"He worked to secure money for the Seneca Babcock Community Center, for other businesses in South Buffalo, and even fought for funds for homeowners to get roofs in the neighborhood," his son recalled.
"He cared so much about his street, his neighborhood, and those who lived in it," said Hayes, who recalled how Mr. Scaccia would at times, and very quietly, give money to those in need, and how children walking to and from school during Buffalo's cold winters were welcome inside his barbershop to warm up for a spell.
"He was actually like the King of Seneca Street. He was there for everybody," Hayes said.
A man of deep faith, Mr. Scaccia up until recently attended church regularly at St. Teresa's just up the street from his barber shop, where a funeral Mass will be held on Thursday at 11:00 a.m.
Calling hours will be on Wednesday from 3-7 p.m. at Thomas McCarthy Funeral Home at 1975 Seneca Street.