Robert Rizzo

Phoenicia-

                   He was the heartthrob of his cousins, Bobby Rizzo.  To them, he was the James Dean of the family, the cool one.  They remembered his signature greeting, “Hey, man. how’s it goin’?”

                  He grew up at Bay 14th St., Brooklyn.  All his mother’s siblings and their families lived there.   His father, Mike, had worked in a successful harmonica band until he married his mother.  Robert grew up playing piano during the booming jazz era.  Throughout his life, he loved that music most of all, the dances, the swing, the poetic lyrics of the songs. 

                  He finished high school and immediately joined the US Army just as the Korean War began.  Robert was assigned to Japan.  During his tour, he saw that country change from an agrarian culture to an industrial one.  He was moved by Japan’s clean beauty.

                  When he returned to New York, he couldn’t settle at home.  So, he took a few of his favorite albums, Peggy Lee, Clifford Brown, and Max Roach, then hitchhiked to Los Angeles.  He couldn’t find his way there to a music career.  So, he returned to New York and became a hairdresser.  

Robert owned a beauty shop in New Paltz for many years.  He loved the way the world opened up in the sixties.  He went to the Woodstock festival.  When he visited his cousins, he would play their favorite Beatles songs.  He would do their hair specially for their weddings.

Robert was in his 50s when he decided to study music privately with a SUNY-New Paltz professor.  When Mike, his father, died in 1998, Robert moved to Phoenicia and pursued music full time. 

He played solo or did gigs with singers and other instrumentalists.  When there wasn’t a job, he would play outdoors in the summers at community events.  

In his last decade, his social life revolved around music.  He became a member of the Chicken Night All Stars, a group that formed around a community meal that John Coghill began at his home that then expanded into the homes of others.  He finally found a home in his community through his piano.  In the end, he had a Chicken Night All Stars T-shirt displayed in his room.

Robert died after a short illness on Wednesday, January 28th, 2026.  He was ninety-two years young.  Robert was born in Bay Ridge on July 28, 1933 son the the late Michael and Helen Dydo Rizzo.

In honor of Robert, Chicken Night will be revived on May 17th.  For more details, please RSVP to Marnie Andrews at (917) 701-4424 if you plan to attend.  You may share a special memory, photo, or condolence on Robert's Tribute Wall at www.gormleyfuneralhome.com  Mark Wilsey is honored to assist with Robert's arrangements.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Robert Rizzo, please visit our floral store.