Longtime community activist dies at 80
By Joan Kite
Daily Bulletin
Wednesday, May 5, 1999
UPLAND -- Anthony "Tony" Niccola had just finished singing for God,
sat down next to his wife of 58 years and collapsed from a brain hemorrhage at
First Baptist Church in Pomona.
Mr. Niccola, a devout Christian who lived life to serve others, died Sunday
at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. He was 80.
"He died doing what he loved to do," said his oldest daughter,
Jeanette Throsh. "His mission in life was to serve others. He
felt God had given him so much, it was his responsibility to give back."
Mr. Niccola completed his mission. In 53 years of residency in Ontario
and Upland, Mr. Niccola served as president of the Upland Kiwanis Club, became a
board member of the Upland YMCA, delivered boxes of Bibles to children in Mexico
with the Christian Businessman's Association and raised money for the Salvation
Army and the Special Olympics.
To earn a living, Mr. Niccola worked as a supervisor at the General Electric
Flat Iron Plant and became a real estate agent.
"He truly loved people. He would have given them the shirt off his
back," said Throsh, a middle school principal who now serves as a board
member for the Salvation Army.
"His whole life he preached love and kindness and forgiveness."
Mr. Niccola was born in Meadsville, Pa., but went to Italy, his father's
homeland, when he was young. He stayed there until he was 9, learning to
speak Italian fluently.
Mr. Niccola's father was drawn by financial opportunities in America, so the
family moved back to the States via Ellis Island and settled in Niagara Falls,
N.Y.
Mr. Niccola met his wife in an Italian Protestant church. In 1941, the
couple married. Mr. Niccola, a sergeant in the U.S. Army, went to Europe
with the second wave of troops during the occupation of Germany.
"He went into the concentration camps. He had a very hard time --
that people could do that to each other," his daughter said.
His beliefs carried him through the crisis.
"He'd say when difficult things and bad things happen to you, you have a
choice to become better or bitter," Throsh said.
Mr. Niccola moved his family to Ontario after relatives told about the vast
land populated then with lush orange and lemon groves.
Mr. Niccola is survived by his wife, Alice Niccola, of Upland; a son, Allan
Niccola of San Juan Capistrano; three daughters, Jeanette Carol Throsh of
Upland, Janice Johnson of Lake Forest, Loretta Tharpe of Mission Viejo; a
brother, Domenic Niccola of Niagara Falls, N.Y.; sisters Madeline D'Andrea,
Antonetta Battino, Carmela Felice and Marge DiVicencio, all of Ontario; nine
grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. tonight at Draper Mortuary in Ontario.
Services will be at 3 p.m. Thursday, at the First Baptist Church in Pomona. |
