Sunday the impossible happened. My father, John Baldori, passed away - the aftermath of a stroke several days earlier.
Dad was indestructible, with an incredible tenacity and fighting spirit. He was 101 and appeared to be ready for several more years. It is a monumental loss to our family, and his many, many friends. He was alert and engaged to the end, following the stock market and his favorite baseball team, the Yankees.
John Baldori was born near Uniontown, Pennsylvania, on February 2, 1920. He was the fifth of seven children born to Italian immigrants Luigi and Rosa Baldori.
Each of the Baldori children learned a different musical instrument, and their family band, The Baldori Sisters Orchestra (with little Johnny on accordion and then trumpet) was a big local success.
John was just nine when his father died in a workplace accident in 1929, but the band played on, becoming an important source of income for the fatherless family during the Great Depression.
The Baldori sisters - Lucy, Stella, Alma, Virginia
The trumpet was John’s mainstay through his school years, as he played with popular big bands around Pittsburgh. In his senior year of college, just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he met the love of his life, Lucille D’Emilio, who was a singer in the Frankie Barr Orchestra.
Lucille Demillio
June 1942 was a landmark month for John. He graduated college, was drafted into the Army, and married Lucille in the span of two weeks.
His first military posting was at the New Cumberland Reception Center, where he was quickly promoted to Sergeant of Company D. As a seasoned musician, he toured with a 40-man army band “Pennsylvania on Parade,” which raised over $2 billion for national defense.
In 1944, John was sent overseas and served in the Mediterranean Theater of Operation under General Mark Clark. He trumpeted throughout southern Italy with the army band, on the bill with entertainers such as Mickey Rooney, Red Skelton, and the Andrews Sisters.
After the war, John and Lucille moved to Michigan with their young sons, Bob and Louis. They settled in Dearborn, where John took a job at Ford Motor Company. Two more sons, Leonard and Jeffrey, were born, and John managed a double life of sorts, working at Ford by day and playing Detroit’s biggest venues – The Graystone, The Vanity, The Grande -- by night.
After his retirement in 1980, John continued gigging and working as a contractor for local musicians, providing talent for the Ice Show, Ringling Brothers Circus, and many other events. He played into his early nineties, and if Papa was ever missing at a family event, his grandchildren knew where to find him: out in the car or in a distant room, blowing his horn.
Relationships were everything to John, and his family came first. Although he sadly lost Lucille in 2017 after 75 years of marriage, John soldiered on. He was dedicated to the well-being of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. He was generous to all of them with his love, affection, and resources. He lived for family get-togethers and celebrations where, ever the entertainer, he was always prepared with his trumpet and a vast repertoire of bad jokes, which he repeated with enthusiasm.
He also had a lifetime of close friends that he never let go of, though at 101, he’d outlived most of them.
A long, monumental life, filled with family, hard work, and unforgettable music. “I was lucky,” said John Baldori. “I played the trumpet.”