Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Great Uncle,WWII Vet,Aviator,Air-Sea Rescue,Musician,Business Owner Has Passed.

This is the obituary of my great uncle Nick.Like most men of the greatest generation they very rarely talked about their service.They did what was necessary to defeat the enemies of our nation without fanfare.They came home,found work,started a family,created businesses and engaged in their passions.My great uncle Nick was just this sort of man.Will the world ever see such an unselfish generation such as these men and women?


Nicolino, F. Sterio, 97, passed away peacefully at his home on Monday, May 18.
The son of the late Carmelo and Maria Sterio, Nick was born May 20 in Oswego, New York. The second of three children, he attended and graduated from Oswego High School, and later Aviation School in Elmira, New York.

Nick began a musical career that would span his lifetime, at a young age, first learning to play the banjo, and earning a small wage playing with his father’s Italian American Citizens Band.At Oswego High, he learned to play the clarinet, and at 16 years old performed for the first time with the Oswego City Summer Concert Band.

After attending Aviation School, where he proudly met Orville Wright, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corp. in 1941, spending time in Biloxi, Mississippi, and Corpus Christi, Texas, where he became a member of the “Air-Sea Rescue”. While in the service he also attended George Peabody College, now part of Vanderbilt University, in Nashville Tennessee.

He returned to Oswego, working as a carpenter for many years before opening Sterio’s Men’s Shop in 1954. He married his wife of 62 years, Adele Stracuzzi in 1958, and they raised two children, David and Judy, in his family homestead. Nick was a life member of many organizations including the American Federation of Musicians, Oswego Country Club, Carpenter’s Union Local 747 (now 277), Elks Club, American Legion, Knights of Columbus, Charles C. Crisafulli Post, and was past president/vice president of the Oswego County Musician’s Union, Oswego Kiwanis, Oswego Jaycees, Oswego YMCA and Retail Merchants. Nick was also a Board Member and Trustee of the Oswego City Labor Board and served two years in Oswego government representing the Fourth Ward.

Besides his family and business interests, Nick’s true passion was his music. His career took off in the 1940’s, when he started his first band, a quartet, which played regularly at The Hillview Inn. As time went on, the bands got bigger, the gigs more frequent, and in their heyday, his Nick Sterio Orchestra was playing two, three and sometimes four jobs a weekend. Nick’s band was the “Go-To” group for every wedding, prom, fraternity/sorority formal, dinner dance and Policeman’s/Fireman’s Charity Ball for many years. Most every prominent musician in Central New York played with Nick during his 75-year run as a band leader. Those musicians became life-long friends and memories. Late in his career, while in his eighties, he performed several times with the National Community Band along the east coast, and at 92, Nick was still performing with the Oswego City Band, the longest participating member of the organization.

In recent years, Nick and his wife Adele were still very active around the Oswego community, enjoying dinners at their favorite restaurants in town, golfing at the Oswego Country Club, and/or simply enjoying conversations with friends and family. Nick also loved watching his son at Oswego City and Jazz Band concerts, spending time with his daughter and family during the holidays, and practicing his clarinet and saxophone while watching television.

A proud and loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, and uncle, Nick is survived by his devoted wife Adele (Stracuzzi) Sterio of Oswego, son David (Jill) Sterio of Oswego, and daughter Judy Sterio of New York City, grandchildren Shane and Shelby Stepien, great-grandchildren Spencer, Addison, Jameson and Connor, sisters Mamie Ellis, as well as dozens of nieces/nephews in Oswego, Massachusets, Maryland, and California. Nick was predeceased by his sister Mary Loschiavo.

Wish I could have met him. I bet he could tell some stories. Thanks for sharing.

A life well lived.

Can you image what stories he could tell about his meeting with one of the first aviators,Orville Wright .


You're welcome.He was man of few words.

That's exactly what my dad said.

Sounds like an awesome guy! Rest in peace Nic.

RIP Sir!🇺🇸

Condolensces on your family's loss.. but you had a great person in your family...

Kudos to Nick for all he did in his life, a life well lived...

and thank you Nick for your service to our nation... during its time of greatest need..

No disrespect to Nick, in fact a statement in awe of them... guys like Nick were once a dime a dozen in this nation..
that was once what was thought of as the American Spirit, where country, community, church and family were put first...
Now replaced by the me generation.. mentioned by John Kennedy in his inauguration speech in 1960..

"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" replaced by the exact opposite of his original message..What is my country doing for me this week??

Nick was part of those that made our nation great and what it is.. Like all Americans of those generations.. He deserves the respect and hero status that most of his generation deserve...

I sadly believe it is all gone now.....

Thank you Nick.... for all you did for our nation, your family and your community.. a life well lived....
Peace be with you sir.

Thanks BB.

He was just 2 days short of his 98 birthday when he passed.

Thanks Keith.


Thanks for these words John.I've been in touch with his kids,my aunt and uncle and they would agree with your sentiments.

My dad would have turned 98 this year as well. You are fortunate to have had your great uncle for so many years.

RIP, Sir!

We are better off here for men like this!

RIP sir, you lived a life that was meaningful, filled with great things. He helped save us and entertained us.

God bless you

Unfortunately because of our location I didn't see him often.The last time was about five years ago at a family wedding.

He had a long talk with the prettiest member of the band who was playing at my cousins wedding in North Carolina.When I asked why he wasn't playing he said it was too far to ship his instruments,equipment and band members.

He was really fun guy to be around and he danced with all of the young women at the wedding party even at 92.

Thank you gentlemen.I feel the same about our "Greatest Generation".

My uncle sent this picture to me.It was taken when uncle Nick was 96 and still walking without any aid.

It's his dad,my great uncle,standing next to his father's grave site in the town of Oswego,New York.

rte,

Sorry to hear of this although 97 years aged is quite the full life . Sounds like he did the things he wanted to do in life after the war .

Rest in peace Nicolino F. Sterio good man ..

Thanks ol_mike.

One of the Great Ones.... RIP.

Thanks Oldman3.