Longtime barber survived kamikaze attack
"Cut hair and you'll never go hungry" was Carmine Caveeck's advice to his young sons.
And his words didn't go unheeded. In 1964, his son joined Mr. Caveeck, who in his shop on Munhall's Main Street cut the hair of four generations of youngsters, steelworkers, railroaders and business and professional men.
Carmine Caveeck, a resident of Munhall, died of heart failure on Monday, Nov. 5, 2001, in UPMC McKeesport. He was 76.
"My father was my hero," said his son Carmine M. Caveeck. "He taught me the value of hard work. We worked long hours, seven days a week, and took a half-day off for Christmas.
"Even though my father forced my brother, Anthony, and I to attend barber school during our summer breaks while we were in high school, barbering became my life's work. I wouldn't want to do anything else."
Carmine M. Caveeck recalled how on Sunday mornings, with his father watching, he'd cut the hair of his friends to gain experience while he was in high school.
"You carve them in and I'll straighten, my father would say. I began to help my father in 1964, and when I received my license in 1968, I cut hair with him until he retired in 1990.
"For a man with only a 10th-grade education, my father did very well for himself. At one time he owned three barbershops, three beauty parlors and a beer distributor."
Born and raised in Linhart, a community near Turtle Creek, Mr. Caveeck was one of 10 children of the family of Michael and Marie Mascolo Cavicchia, Italian immigrants. Marie was Michael Cavicchia's second wife, whom he married after his first wife had died, leaving him with four children. The elder Cavicchia was employed by the Union Railroad.
In 1942, Mr. Caveeck dropped out of Turtle Creek High School and joined the Navy, said his brother, Richard Cavicchia. "He was only 16, but he lied about his age," Cavicchia said.
"My brother was a gunner aboard the USS St. Louis. His ship survived several kamikaze and torpedo attacks. One kamikaze hit them while they were in dry dock. Carmine still had shrapnel below his one eye. He received the Purple Heart."
Following his discharge in 1946, Mr. Caveeck returned to Turtle Creek, and under the GI Bill of Rights attended the former Pittsburgh Barber School, which was on the North Side.
A year later, while attending a wedding, Mr. Caveeck met Marie Dzurikanian, a young woman from Munhall.
"Later, I found out that he noticed me and went home and told his parents that he was going to marry me," she said. "He called. Two weeks later he gave me a ring, and we were married on Nov. 22."
Mrs. Caveeck recalled the long hours that her husband put into his businesses. "He wouldn't have it any other way. When Carmine started cutting hair, he was getting 50 cents for each haircut.
"He loved Munhall and its people. His customers were also our friends. Everywhere we went we would be greeted by men whose hair he had cut through the years," she said.
"My father put in long hours at the barbershop," said his son Anthony L. Caveeck. "Our mother took our father's place. She took us fishing, to picnics and ball games. Mom would take us to Kennywood and Dad would join us after he closed shop."
His friend Michael Magliere, a resident of Lincoln Place, said Mr. Caveeck was always ready to help.
"Carmine was not only a good barber, but he could lay brick, work with concrete and sculpt wood. He helped me with a lot of work that was needed around my home."
Carmine M. Caveeck recalled his father's clientele. "We were strictly a blue-collar barbershop, but we also had several business and professional men as customers.
"My father was a member of the Main Street Business Association and was also involved with the Main Street Redevelopment, where the business district was refurbished."
Mr. Caveeck is survived by his wife, Marie Dzurikanian Caveeck; sons, Carmine M. and Anthony L. Caveeck, both of Munhall, and Richard W. Caveeck of Glassport; grandchildren, Dana, Dawn, Lisa, Angela and Jason; and great-grandchildren, Michelene, Morgan, Lauren, Anna and Zachary.
He was also the brother of Richard Cavicchia of Munhall; Catherine Thomas of Sarver, Butler County; Ann Maniago of California; and Phelomena Devay, Josephine Sambuco, Rose Miller and Antoinette Wilson, all of Turtle Creek. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Michael and Samuel Cavicchia.
Visitation is from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today in the George Irvin Green Funeral Home Inc., 3511 Main St., Munhall, where services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Thursday, with the Rev. Karen Prescott officiating. Burial will be in Jefferson Memorial Park.
