Obituary of Michael P Chiaccio

Michael Chiaccio, 87, of Knollwood Rd, Dudley, passed away on Sunday June 6th at home, after a long illness. He leaves his wife of 57 years, Niki L. Chiaccio, his son Paul Chiaccio and his wife Janell of Dudley. Also his grandchildren, Ashley Almeida and her two sons, Samuel and Nathan of Ft Myers FL; Robert Chiaccio (Dana) and their son Killian James of Saginaw MI; Christopher Chiaccio (Ashley) and their daughter Elisabeth Claire of Groton CT; Chella Harlow (Mariah) and their daughters Emmalyn and Sadie of Enfield, CT. Also eight brothers in law, three sisters in law, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, his brother Peter and sister Donna. Michael was born in Riverside Township, Burlington County New Jersey, the son of Peter and Mildred (Holzer). Mike loved football from childhood. He proudly wore number 74 for the Riverside High School Rams where he held several school and county records as the top scorer, scoring 31 touchdowns in a single season. His 1957 yearbook referred to him as "The Bull" due to his running speed and incredible strength. After graduation he went to Maryland University, home of the Terrapins, on a football scholarship, where he studied Metallurgy. He was also a Cessna pilot and towed advertising banners over the New Jersey beaches. Michael and Niki were married in 1968 and spent most of their years living in the Groton/ New London CT area. Mike had a real gift for talking to people and spent most of his career in sales and marketing. He worked for McMillan and Benzinger Bruce publishing companies for several years selling textbooks to schools. He was also a top performing sales person for Mercedes Benz and BMW, where he set a sales record that won him and Niki an all-expense paid trip to Germany. Forever the entrepreneur, Mike came up with an idea to make vinyl phonebook covers to celebrate the 1976 bicentennial. He and his family did everything from purchasing, design, selling advertising, silk screening and delivery. There is a good chance that someone in New London, CT still has one of these phonebook covers today. Mike's passions included watching and talking football (New England Patriots fan), playing the keyboard which he learned to do after becoming legally blind, listening to music, and cooking Italian food. He was well known for his homemade spaghetti sauce and pasta e fagioli. Michael always had a story to tell anyone who would listen His depth of knowledge on so many topics was purely amazing. He was a pleasure to know, and will be greatly missed.