GLOUCESTER: Nicholas Fintonis, Sr., 90, U.S. Army World War II P.O.W., died Sunday December 11, 2011 in the Beverly Hospital following a brief illness.
Born in Lynn on February 20, 1921, he was the son of the late George and Mary (Perroglo) Fintonis.
Enlisting in the U.S. Army in October of 1942, he led a machine gun squad and served in England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. He was at the Battle of the Bulge and was a prisoner of war for four months. He was honorably discharged at the rank of Sergeant in October of 1945.
Employed as a truck driver, he worked for N. S. Recycle Fibers for forty-two years, until his retirement in 1987.
A resident of Gloucester for the past thirty-five years, he has been vital part of the senior community for the past twenty-five years. Beginning at the Council on Aging on Main Street and later at the Rose Baker Senior Center, he ran bingo, the cribbage tournaments and handled all the medical equipment.
He was a member of the Capt. S. Wass Post #3, American Legion and the Gloucester Cribbage Club. He will be missed by all who knew and loved him.
He is survived by five sons, George, husband of Susan Fintonis, Gerald, husband of Joanne Fintonis, Nicholas Fintonis, Jr., Robert, husband of Karen Fintonis and Alan, husband of Patricia Opiechowski; two sisters, Nicholita Pavlis and Helen Hasevlat; twenty-one grandchildren; many great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren and nieces and nephews. He was also predeceased by his former spouse, Mavis (Ballou) Fintonis; his brother and sister-in-law, Ernest and Penelope Fintonis and two brothers-in-law, William Pavlis and Chrisopher Hasevlat.
His funeral service will be held on Friday, December 16th in the Pike-Grondin Funeral Home, 61 Middle Street, Gloucester at 10 a.m. Visiting hours will be held on Thursday evening from 3 to 7 p.m. Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend. In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made in his memory to the Rose Baker Senior Center, 6 Manuel F. Lewis St., Gloucester, MA 01930. Interment will be held privately in the Pine Grove Cemetery, Lynn.