Angelo DiPinto, barber, dies

Posted
A recent photo of Angelo DiPinto taken in his barbershop. (Photo by Pete Mazzaccaro) A recent photo of Angelo DiPinto taken in his barbershop. (Photo by Pete Mazzaccaro)

by Pete Mazzaccaro

Angelo DiPinto, 80, a lifelong barber who cut the hair of Chestnut Hillers for 60 years, died Nov. 18 of cancer at his home in Erdenheim.

Mr. DiPinto opened his shop in Chestnut Hill in 1960. Two years later, however, he sold it it to Victor Pace, and it was called Victor’s Barbershop for 47 years until Pace retired in 2009 and sold the store back to Mr. DiPinto. That shop, at 8433 Germantown Ave., was where he worked until he died.

Mr. DiPinto was born in the town of Montenero Di Bisaccio in Abruzzi, Italy, and began cutting hair at the age of 14. His father, a farmer, decided to join his brothers and sisters in Philadelphia and in 1953 took the family to the Tacony section of Northeast Philadelphia.

Mr. DiPinto found a job at Harry Smith’s barber shop at 8509 Germantown Ave. (now the Chestnut Hill Cheese Shop) in 1954. At that shop, he joined four other barbers who trimmed hair and shaved faces for a steady stream of Hillers, and haircuts were $1.25. At the time of his death, Mr. DiPinto was the last barber in Chestnut Hill.

Although the shop faced tough times in the late '60s and early '70s, when long hair became fashionable, Mr. DiPinto said he had a base of regular customers who kept him in business, some of whom represented the fourth generation of original clients.

In 1957, he married Rose Salemno, sister of the late Chestnut Hill barber Frank Salemno. Shortly after that, he moved to Chestnut Hill and later to Erdenheim.

In addition to his wife, Mr. DiPInto is survived by a son, Louis; three grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. A son, Angelo Jr., preceded him in death.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25, at Our Mother of Consolation Church, 9 E. Chestnut Hill Ave. in Chestnut Hill. Relatives and friends may call at the church at 9 a.m. prior to the Mass. Interment will be at George Washington Memorial Park in Plymouth Meeting'

Memorial donations may be made to Keystone Hospice, 8765 Stenton Ave., Wyndmoor, PA 19038.

news, obituaries