Ettore Hector Marcucci

Ettore Hector Guido Marcucci, 92, of 7 Gooseberry Road,Newport, RI died on November 19, 2015 at home surrounded by his loving family. Hector was born November 25, 1922 in Newport, RI, the son of the late Guido and Theresa (Giordano) Marcucci who emigrated from Italy during WW I.He leaves his wife, Pauline (Polly Munafo) Marcucci and four children: Terri (Michael) Fitch of Newport, Cheryl (Arthur) Maine of Wakefield, Polly (Kenneth) Hadfield of Freehold, NJ, and Paul Marcucci of Fall River, MA. He was predeceased by two brothers, Victor (married to Monica Lincourt) and Corrado(married to Irene Botelho), and one sister, Esther (married to Everett Botelho).In addition to his wife and children, he leaves four grandchildren, Christina Fitch (Matthew) LookFong ofAnnapolis, MD, Timothy Maine of Wakefield, Catherine Maine (William) Khoe of Palmer, AK, and Eric (Jaskamal) Fournier of Cimarron, KS, and four great-grandchildren, Samuel LookFong,Anthony Maine, Hailey Maine, and Mason Fournier.He leaves his sister-in-law, Monica (Lincourt) Marcucci, and a great many nieces, nephews, andcousins. He was blessed with a large extended family to include the Laurenzanos of Beverly,MA and the Munafos of Boston, MA, and many second, third, and fourth generation cousins.Hector shared many stories with his family to include memories of his grandparents, Giuseppe and Concetta Marcucci who lived with the family, the building of Columbus Bakery in 1927, and the Hurricane of '38 when he was 16 years old. In 1940 he graduated from Rogers High School and joined the Navy to see the world. He attended boot camp in Newport and attended various Navy schools including machinist mate school at the Ford Motor Company's tool-and die shop in Dearborn, MI as well as others in Washington, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Texas. He was assigned to the USS Colorado and later helped to put the USS Borum 790 in commission, including the shakedown cruise to Plymouth, England. He went on to spend most of WW II in the Pacific - but later returned to Plymouth, England to participate in the battle of Normandy. By the time the war ended, he had made "chief" and was assigned to the decommissioning of the USS Borum. He considered a career in the Navy, but after six years, decided to return home - he wanted a family and constant ship duty was not conducive to familylife. He met Polly Munafo, a neighbor in Newport, in 1948, and they were married in 1950. The family bakery was struggling when Hector returned to Newport. The ovens were fired up only three times per week and sales were mostly house-to-house. Hector and his younger brother, Corrado, greatly improved the quality and consistency of their product and grew the business to include deliveries to restaurants, grocery stores, the Navy base, and cafeterias.When the Navy pulled out of Newport in 1972, many businesses closed - including some of the bakery's largest customers. Hector and Corrado had already made plans to be their own best customer by opening a sandwich shop on Broadway in 1965 called Marcucci's Submarine Sandwich Shop. The signature sandwich was the "Big M" - over two feet long and only $1.10 the sign boasted! It was a successful opening as the store ran out of supplies and had to close early on that first day of business. The brothers quickly established three more locations.People still stopped Hector on the street many years afterward to tell him which submarinesandwich was their favorite. Tragedy struck in 1974 when Corrado died unexpectedly. It was difficult for Hector to maintain the pace of the business after the loss of his brother. He eventually sold the sandwich shops, closed the bakery and retired. After retirement, Hector and Polly enjoyed winters in the Venice FL area for more than 25 years. There, Hector played golf, bridge, and cribbage, rode his bike every day, participated in stage productions, and took part in golf cart drag racing. He loved playing the trumpet and was proud to hold his own in the Newport Concert Band. He was a member of The Sons of Italy for more than 50 years and served as president of the Kiwanis Club of Newport. He enjoyed bringing all three of his little girls to the annual Kiwanis Father/Daughter dance and playing catch andbuilding a tree house with his son. All of the children enjoyed spending a Saturday with Dad onthe bakery truck. He sneaked red pepper flakes into his wife's sauce and complained when there wasn't enough pepperoni. He made the best homemade pizza and dough boys, but often forgot to bring bread home from the bakery for his family. He was a voracious reader, preferring historical works and biographies, did crossword puzzles in pen, and claimed his gin rummy wins were attributable to his superior skill. He, and his wife, Polly, celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in September and weresurprised with a long lost movie reel of their wedding day. He was a gentle, kind, affectionate,generous, and loving man. "He never looked for praise, he was never one to boast. He justwent on quietly working, for those he loved the most...".In lieu of calling hours, a combined memorial service and visitation is scheduled for Wednesday,November 25, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. at Emmanuel Church in Newport. In lieu of flowers, the familyrequests that donations in his memory be made to the charity of your choice. Service NOV 25. 03:00 PM Emmanuel Church Newport, RI, US, 02840 42 dearborn street