Andrew Ippolito, Korean War veteran and former librarian at Newsday, dies at 95

Andrew Ippolito wanted his children to know about the different wonders the world had to offer, his family said.

Whether it was bringing home different foods to try, attending the opera, or getting tickets to the symphony, "he just wanted us to see there's a world out there you could experience," his daughter Jenette D'Alessandro said.

His children didn't have to like the symphony "but he wanted you to see it, he wanted you to try it, he wanted you to feel it," she said.

Andrew Ippolito died on Feb. 9 at his home in Westport, Connecticut. He was 95.

Curious nature

Andrew Ippolito was born on March 6, 1930 in Long Island City, Queens, during the Great Depression. D'Alessandro described him as a "sponge for information" who did a lot of hands-on learning, always wanting to be involved in adventures.

The second youngest of six children, he spoke often of his relationship with his mother and his siblings, his children said. He'd recalled playing with his friends in vacant lots.

He always told "stories of all the siblings and cousins and neighbors and always being at the house, and it was just something that he looked back on fondly," his son Michael Ippolito said.

Andrew passed this closeness down to his children, with Jenette saying that their family continues to get together to play games and connect with each other.

After graduating from high school, in Queens, Ippolito served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. While on leave, his older sister introduced him to future wife, Constance, at a family party.

The two wrote letters to each other while he was in the Navy, and then they moved together to Washington D.C. while he attended Georgetown University to study for a bachelor's in international affairs.

They married and moved back to Long Island City to take care of his mother. The couple had four children.

His son described his parents as "amazing," with family values centered around "being respectful and loving each other."

His father insisted on having dinner together every night, at which everybody had to share something about their day. Their conversations would last for hours.

"As a dad and a mom, they ... wanted us to experience as much as we could," Jenette said.

"He didn't want to put us in a box of whatever financial situation we were in," she said, recalling how she saw the opera "Madame Butterfly" when she was 8 years old.

Engaged in the world

Ippolito was involved in many community groups.

"He started a club called the Democrats for New Politics, he was the president of the Italian American Heritage Foundation, he was president of the PTA," his daughter said.

He also campaigned for former Gov. Mario Cuomo and former New York City Mayor John Lindsay. He attended the 1968 Democratic National Convention as a delegate for Eugene McCarthy, which his family watched "on our black and white, 4-by-4 TV screen," his daughter said.

Ippolito earned a master's in library sciences from Pratt University before working at multiple Long Island public libraries. He then got a job at Newsday, where he would become the head of the library and research department. He also started his own publishing company, Library Directory Associates.

Michael described him as "an innovator in library sciences."

"He was one of the first ones for Newsday to convert all of the old archives to microfiche," he said.

He was a "big fan" of Newsday founder Alicia Patterson, his children said. After her death, he asked for the self-portrait from her office, which hung in his home office for the rest of his life.

Ippolito is survived by his children Jenette, Paul and Michael; grandchildren Vanessa, Andraya, Andrew, Dimitra, Michael, Sofia, Paul, Christofer and Lucas; and great-grandchildren Cosette, Charlotte, Daniel, Keenan, Jaxon and Josephine. He was predeceased by his wife, Constance, and son Andrew.

His funeral was at St. Luke's Church in Westport, Connecticut, on Feb. 16. He was buried at Willowbrook Cemetery in Westport.