It is with a heavy heart that I have to say that I lost my beloved husband, John A. Lucisano, on January 3, 2026 at the age of 75. He was born on September 21, 1950 in White Plains, New York to Ralph and Delores Lucisano.

We had a good run of our 34 year marriage. We were always together 24/7. He was a man with a laid back personality, easy going. He was a family man.

John graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School, and went on to college at Farmingdale State College for 1 year. His true calling was carpentry/remodeling, and pursued that career for over 50 years.

He moved to Boston for a while back in the day. He lived in a apartment building where Aero Smith Band was living. The band was just starting out and John met all of the band members. He became good friends with them and they would ask him to watch their band equipment when they would go out.

From there he moved to Vermont and would do contruction/remodeling and he would bartend at times thru the years.

After that he decided to move back to New York to be close to family and started his own company for a while called “Woodcuts Construction”.

From there he moved to Syracuse and was here for 36 years. He had many bosses in those years but his favorite one was Tim Frost. He had a favorite coworker – Doug McDougal. They bonded thru the years.

John fought a courageous battle till the end. He always had a positive attitude. He did everything he was supposed to do but his body couldn’t take it anymore. He is going to be so missed.

Our dear friend, Pete Hooser, would call him “Sammy the Bull”. He thought that John looked like that mobster and John got a kick out of that.

His stepson Steve would call him “King of New York”. He always got a chuckle out of that. Steve would always address John’s cards as “to the King of New York”

He was “poppy” to his 7 step-grandchildren. He loved being called “poppy”. He adored those grandchildren. He loved playing board games and cards with them. He taught Francesca, Nico and Gianna to play chess. He would always play UNO with Vinny and of course Vinny would win. Liliana would play with poppy too with UNO and she loved playing Monopoly with poppy.

John loved to play his guitar. Always playing different songs on it. He at one time played “Maybelline” by Chuck Barry on his guitar and Liliana would dance at the tune when she was little. John enjoyed seeing her dance to it.

He loved going to Italian Restaurants. His favorite ones were Vitos, Santangelos and Delmonicos. He enjoyed his veal parmesan. And he loved his cannolies.

At New Years Eve we would get together with our Lucisano cousins and celebrate. John so enjoyed those Utica greens! And of course at the Fair he loved having a cold beer with a Basilio sausage sandwich.

He was a collector of baseball cards. He enjoyed that hobby.

He loved to read. He was a history buff, always watching the history channel. Always reading about our wars and those times. You could ask him a question in regards to history and he would know the answer.

He loved listening to the Blues, Eric Clapton, BB King and Stevie Winwood. Cousin Leo would come over and they would listen to the blues and have a beer together.

Our cousins Leo and Ann Lucisano, Rocky Lucisano and Leo John Lucisano from N. Carolina were always concerned about John. They were always calling and coming over. Leo John came up a few times this year to see John. Leo, Ann and Rocky were always here for us during John illness. They helped support John and Karen till the end.

John’s brother Ralph from downstate was always calling to check on him. He came up to see John along with John’s niece Carla, her husband Dale and friend Laurie when John was still in good shape at the time. They came a few times and John lit up when he saw them. Towards the end they came up and John’s niece Dina came to see him. They were here for John till the end.

His stepsons Frank, Jr and daughter-in-law Allyson and Greg with daughter-in-law Gina were a blessing to Karen. They have helped so much. Our Steve who lives in Indiana would call to check in on him and was here when John passed. He was a blessing to be here for his mother.

Sister-in-law Sandy Rosatelli was always here for John and Karen. She was always on call. She made Xmas Eve dinner for them this year. John enjoyed the meal of what he could eat.

John had a lot in common with his three stepsons. For Frank, Jr. it was carpentry/remodeling. They worked together from time to time. Frank, Jr. can tell you a few good stories of when they worked together that will make you laugh.

With Steve, it was cars that they had in common. John used to rebuild engines, etc. Loved working on cars. They both liked hot rods and classic cars. John gave Steve his 1971 Monte Carlo when he came to Syracuse. Steve worked on it and made it a racing car. Then he would race it at ESTA.

With Greg it was sports that they had in common. John took Greg to his first Yankee game at Yankee Stadium back in the day. They always talked about football. John did love the Giants at one time.

John drove a 1981 Cadillac Coup de Ville to Syracuse. He taught Greg how to drive with that car. Also Steve had taken it to one of his proms.

John was predeceased by his parents Ralph and Delores, his brother Richard, his nephew Joey and his mother-in-law Mary Rosatelli, whom he adored.

Left behind to cherish his memory are his wife Karen,stepsons Frank (Allyson) Santoro, Jr, Steven (Jill) Santoro, Greg (Gina) Santoro, brothers Ralph and Frank and sister in-law Sandy Rosatelli; step grandchildren Francesca, Nicolas, Gianna, Lauren, Sarah, Liliana and Vinny Santoro as well as nieces, nephews and cousins.

A special thank you to Upstate Cancer Center 2nd and 4th floor. They were very supportive and kind to us.

And to the ED team at Upstate, Abdul and Anne. They were just wonderful to my husband and myself. And the 5th floor nurses, Heather, Hannah, Mallory, Anna and Abbie. You were all so wonderful and caring, thank you.

In lieu of flowers, donations in John’s name can be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.