Nicholas A. Costantino

Art Director

And Designer

Nicholas A. Costantino, 85, of Sandy Hook, and previous Ridgefield resident for 34 years, active member of the Ridgefield Men’s Club, The Italian American Mutual Aid Society, and The American Ridgefield Post 78, died June 16, at Bethel Health Care Center. The family reported the cause of death was lung cancer. Born in Newark, N.J., December 25, 1924, Mr Costantino was the son of Anthony and Mary Miraglia Costantino.

After attending schools in Newark, at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts and on a government program at the Newark College of Engineering, he entered the US Navy in 1943. He served during World War II on a US destroyer assigned to the Fifty-Second Destroyer Squadron and to the commander of the Fifth Fleet. The destroyer participated in operations throughout the South and Western Pacific.

After leaving the Navy in 1946, Mr Costantino held several positions in the art and design fields before joining the International Business Machines Corporation as a designer. He stayed with IBM for 28 years, holding a variety of design-related positions, including divisional art director, and for his last eight years was manager of Graphic Design and Art Programs at IBM’s corporate headquarters in Armonk, N.Y. He took early retirement in 1982 to open his own design studio, being involved in a broad range of design communications including annual reports, brochures, promotional materials, posters, and exhibitions.

Mr Costantino is survived by his wife of 13 years, Nancy Cortese Costantino; his three children, Anthony, and his wife, Karen, of Olney, Md., Susan, of Middletown, and Stephen, and his wife, Nicole, of Norwalk; four grandchildren; brother Anthony; sister Ann and her husband, Edwin Valente; and his wife’s two daughters, Jeanine and Lisa. He was predeceased in 1994 by his first wife of 45 years, Helen Conrad Costantino.

In retirement Nicholas was very active in the organizations to which he belonged. Aside from the comradeship he enjoyed from his fellow members, he was involved in assisting in the design and production of the Ridgefield Men’s Club monthly newsletter. He also organized a number of Dinner and Show nights at the Italian American Mutual Aid Society and helped in preparing meals at the American Legion monthly meetings. He loved to travel, cook gourmet meals, and paint pictures in oils.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated June 19. Burial was in St Mary’s Cemetery, Ridgefield.

The Newtown Bee        June 25, 2010