Obituary of Vincent James Putrino, 96
Vincent James Putrino.
– Vincent (Vincenzo, Uncle Jimmy, Vince, Vini, Pa) was born Feb. 15, 1929, in Endicott, New York, and passed away on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, in Paso Robles, California. Vincenzo’s mother says he was actually born on Feb. 5 (who better to know than his mother)… in 1929, hospital personnel did not get around to recording the birth date until 8, 9, and sometimes 10 days later, using the day of recording as the birth date.
Vincenzo was one of thirteen children (#7), two remaining, whose parents, Antonino and Josephine (Manago) Putrino, were from Reggio, Calabria, Italy.
As a boy, Jimmy, along with his other brothers, worked daily in the family’s garden (the size of two-house lots), while his mother and sisters attended to daily home chores and meals. Additionally, while growing up, Jimmy shined shoes in a local barber shop while always watching the barbers cut hair between shine gigs (more later).
During his high school years, Jimmy learned to play clarinet, saxophone, and bass fiddle (stand-up bass). He extended his musicianship by forming dance bands for school functions. He was also a Union Endicott High School cheerleader when not entertaining in a host of other school and non-school activities.
In the midst of these ventures, Jimmy took a “natural” interest in jitterbug dancing (no lessons) and became an award-winning champion (THEY called him rubber-legs); most women would not dance with Jimmy because they could not keep up with him, with the exception of his future wife, MaryLou Putrino, who passed away on 11/18/2014.
After graduating high school in 1948, Jimmy worked many odd jobs (postal carrier, rain gutter installer, Woolworth stock boy, selling Christmas trees, and, of course, musician) and then decided to enlist in the service instead of being drafted… his father was very unhappy with him voluntarily enlisting until he learned Jimmy’s purpose: to provide him with the opportunity to choose which branch of service as well as where to serve, instead of being assigned.
Vince chose to be in the Air Force, serving as a musician in the prestigious Air Force band, again expanding his musicianship, serving in Newfoundland, Labrador, and Greenland. During his service, the dance band lost their drummer, and with no replacement, Vince learned to play dance drums for the Officers’ dance band entertainment on a weekend whim (he would attempt anything with the attitude “how hard could it be?” and “what do I have to lose?”)
Speaking of which, one sunny day in Greenland, the Air Force base was suddenly without a barber and was seeking one… hmmm, you guessed it, Vini stepped up to the plate and said, “I’ll cut hair,” based on his observation knowledge when he used to shine shoes as a boy in the barber shop. He was deemed the base barber (he sent all proceeds home to his parents).
After 3.5 years of service, Pa was discharged and homebound in 1952, with the world in front of him. He looked up his accordion-playing high school buddy Walt Leahy and teamed up with him, playing stand-up bass as a jazz music comedy duo in nightclubs up and down the East Coast for a couple of years.
During their last gig and while on break between performances with house-recorded music playing, Vince asked a woman patron (my mother) to dance, and as they say, “the rest is history”; she was able to keep up with this jitterbug extraordinaire. A very short time thereafter, they were married in 1953. Two years later, their son was born, and two years after that, a daughter.
In April 1960, Vince said no more upstate New York winters, packed up a 1959 Plymouth with bass fiddle atop, and drove to Burbank, California, where he/we lived for 40+ years. At that time, Vini purchased a home for $11,500 (owner carried back $11,000).
He received his HVAC certification shortly thereafter and worked as such for 20 years. In the late 1970s, Pa’s interest was significantly redirected toward real estate, in which he became a real estate broker and began his real estate investment portfolio. Additionally, Pa was significantly excited to share his knowledge with family and friends, supporting their real estate investment portfolios as well.
Secondarily, Pa also established a property management business coupled with real estate investing to, of course, manage the security of his and his clients’ investments.
In 2004, Vince and MaryLou moved to Paso Robles to share life with their children and especially their grandchildren.
If you were a part of Vini’s life for the last 70 years, you were subject to many Vini stories, sometimes with filters but mostly no-filter; especially as his age progressed… this was a slippery slope. Despite having heard these stories over and over again and again… we of course wish we could hear them one more time.
Vince is survived by his brother Gino Putrino and sister Lucy (Putrino) Cristalli; son Dino Putrino and his wife Cindy, as well as grandchildren CallaBria and Dante; daughter Dana Putrino and wife Belinda.
Pa, we more than Love’ya…
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