Obituary: Salvatore J. Rizzo, 95, Of Hamden

HAMDEN, CT — (From Sisk Brothers Funeral Home): Salvatore J. Rizzo, 95, of Hamden, passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 29 2023 into the waiting arms of God and his beloved wife Alice. Born in New Haven, on October 1, 1927, Sal was the son of the late Gaspare Luciano and Maria Rizzo and grew up on County St. He was also predeceased by his 6 siblings, brothers Albert, Andrew, Leonard and Louis Rizzo and sisters Rose Diglitz and Mary Cataldo.

Sals work career was dedicated to two different passions. He joined the City of New Haven Fire Department Local 825 in 1952, loving his profession as an apparatus driver and his brother firefighters, until his retirement in 1980. He also founded Sal Rizzo and Sons Slicing Machines business in 1962 catering to restaurants, delis and establishments throughout the state. He eventually passed the family business onto his son Gary, who successfully built it larger, who then passed it onto his step son Daniel Gleason, who runs it today.

Sal’s other earlier joys in life were his 3 beloved horses, playing in citywide horseshoe and softball leagues, and rooting for the New York Yankees.

The eternal sunshine of Sal’s life , was his late wife Alice( Duncklee) Rizzo. They met in 1950 at Indian Wells State Park, and Sal was smitten… pronouncing to his buddies, “Wrap that one up, I’ll take her.” They married in 1956 and enjoyed decades of dancing, traveling and raising their two boys.

Always a Hamden resident, Sal & Alice lived at 93 Lucien Dr., a street where the houses were built by his brothers and named after his father, Luciano Rizzo.

Sal was the proudest father of his two sons, Gary (Linda) Rizzo of Punta Gorda, Fla. And Joseph (Gaye Calabrese) Rizzo of Middlefield. His grandchildren are Timothy, Kyle, Kevin and Christina Rizzo, Sean and Daniel Gleason. Great-grandson Beau Gleason was baptized on the day Sal passed. He also leaves behind his many, many cherished nieces and nephews of the Rizzo, Carey, Daley, Lucarelli and Longabardi families.

The Rizzo Family would like to sincerely thank the staff and friends who embraced Sal and treated him so well at The Landing of North Haven, and The Ark Rehabilitation and Healthcare Facility of Branford.

The family regrets that there are no calling hours. A Mass of Christian Burial will be Celebrated on Wednesday, May 3 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Hamden. Burial will follow at Beaverdale Cemetery.

For more information and to leave online condolences, visit Sisk Brothers Funeral Home here.