Constantino Iannaccone, of Medford, born November 9, 1928, died on December 13, 2022 after a brief hospitalization. Survived by his wife of 70 years Arlene M. (Flynn) , a sister Margaret (Iannaccone) Fulchino, children Sally Ann, Stephen and spouse Greg Getschman, Donna, Kathleen. His oldest son Paul predeceased him. Other survivors include his daughter-in law Maureen (Duggan) Iannaccone, beloved grandchildren Christopher Paul, and partner Jason Knight, Erin Rebelo, and husband Dominic, Andrew and wife Lorraine. Also three great-grandchildren Maeve, Ambrosio, and Leonardo. Veteran of WW2, Army of the Occupation of Japan, assigned to Headquarters in Korea. He was trained and worked in the military as a draftsman.
Constantino was predeceased by his parents Michele (b. in Avelino, Italy) and Mary (LaSala) of Boston; his other sisters Rose (Macione), Raphael (Shea), Lucy (Vitale),; his brothers Michael and Joseph. Constantino grew up in the East Boston neighborhood of the City of Boston. He attended pulic schools and graduated high school in 1947. He volunteered for the military that same year at age 17, convincing his parents to sign. Upon return to the US in 1948, Constantino had planned to learn more about drafting and make that his career. However, his father who worked at Schrafts Candy Factory in Charlestown used pulled some strings to get my father a job at the same factory. My father worked there carrying multiple numbers of trays of finished candies to the packaging department. This was Constantino’s dedication to family and honoring his father.
In 1948 he and his cousin were at the Wonderland Ballroom looking for some young women to dance with. The deal they had between them was that when they encountered two women together, Constantino would approach the shorter of the two. On this one occasion he approached the taller woman who became his fiancé and wife of 72 years of marriage, Arlene Flynn. They were married at Immaculate Conception Church in Salem Ma on December 2, 1950. Children followed along with the oldest child Paul born in 1951, Sally Ann in 1952, Stephen in 1954, Donna in 1958 and Kathleen in 1960.
Constantino graduated from Northeastern University in 1957, with a Bachelor’s from the School of Business. He began his career in insurance and moved later to the Treasury Department in the IRS. He retired from there after 25 years from the Appeals Office with a CPA and as a Legal Accountant.
He and his wife spent much of their middle and older years traveling ether by themselves or with friends. Among the places he visited was Israel, Italy, Ireland/Scotland, the Caribbean, Jamaica, Montreal, Quebec and Nova Scotia. He also traveled around the United States to Alaska, different places in California, Texas, Denver, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Maine, Hampshire, Vermont and of course Massachusetts.
He was an avid gardener. When he was a youngster, he went with his father to their Victory Garden in Belmont to work on their small farm where they grew vegetables for the table. Talk about “farm to table” it is not something new. When he was an adult with a family every summer, he planted tomato plants. He planted flowers of different varieties in the back and front of the house. In Plymouth, when we moved down there, he dug up part of the huge ¾ of an acre backyard, with the help of his children, and planted watermelon, strawberries and many vegetables which his family lived off of for the summer and fall. Every spring and summer one would find him working in the garden.
He was a person who liked to talk about his youth. He repeated to his the grandchildren in his hospital room a story he has told many times. When he was a boy, he had been given a sled for Christmas. He was told not to get his new Christmas clothes dirty before dinner. Nonetheless he went with his sled to slide down a hill in East Boston and ended up riding that sled right underneath an oncoming car. We know he survived the incident with minor scrapes and torn clothes but at the time he was more concerned with surviving his father’s wrath if he showed up with the police officer. He convinced the police officer to let hm off at the corner of London St. where they loved. Only his mother was out on the sidewalk looking for him and saw him come out of the car, with blood all over his new Christmas clothes.
Another oft-repeated story was when Constantino’s father made wine. His father had a good reputation locally making tasty wine. Constantino used to help with the whole process. Given that he was the only boy most of his time living at home, he was charged to go inside the huge wine barrel to push out the leftover grape skins and clean out the wine barrel.
When he went to school during this time, the teachers would overlook his purple/blue hands when the class of children had to show the teacher their hands which were supposed to be kept clean. The teachers looked the other way. They knew that it was wine-making time and just ignored the purple stained hands.
Constantino lived a very filled and fulfilling life. His determination continued even with his manner of death. He did not want extraordinary measures used to keep him alive. After verifying this with Constantino and with his Doctor present all further treatment was cancelled. He died within 16 hours of that determination. He died peacefully with family at his side
A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at St. Joseph Church, 118 High St. Medford at 11:30AM on Thursday, December 22, 2022. Burial will be private at a later date. Donations in lieu of flowers to the C. Paul Iannaccone ’69 Fund for Student Support; BLSA; 27 School St. Suite 300; Boston, MA 02108-4303