Luigino Luciani

Luigi was born January 19th, 1947 to the late Umberto Luciani and Elvira Conti in Monte San Martino (MC), Italy. A proudly independent young man, he traveled abroad developing and perfecting his culinary and hospitality skills by studying and working in Italy, France, England and The Bahamas before settling in the United States.

In 1968, Luigi met Jane Bloodgood while she was vacationing in The Bahamas. They were married in Florida in 1970 and soon after welcomed their son, Michael in 1975 and son, Mark in 1978. The young family relocated to upstate New York and grew to include son, John in 1980, and daughter, Maria in 1982.

He worked various positions in the hospitality industry throughout his career. Some of his most notable accomplishments included operating The Park Plaza Hotel in New Haven, CT and eventually opening, co-owning and directing numerous well renowned restaurant and banquet venues simultaneously with long-time friend, Frank Perrotti, Jr. of Hamden, CT. 500 Blake Street Café of New Haven, CT and Colonial Thymes of Hamden, CT were each adorned with countless accolades and many of those he worked with became like family to him.

Although his work was second-to-none, he was most passionate about his loved ones. He never failed to make Sunday and Monday night family dinner from scratch with his children. In them, he instilled the values of family, tradition, respect, hard work and ethics while creating life-long morals and memories of laughter. He celebrated the marriages of his eldest sons to daughters-in-law Amanika Punhani in 2004, and Janelle Gadomski in 2015.

He had great enthusiasm for finding and creating beauty in many areas of life. He enjoyed being in nature and often went scuba diving as a young man. Later in life, he loved taking nature walks and kayaking with his children. Antiquing and refinishing pieces for the restaurants, his home and for his children to treasure, was a favorite hobby. Perhaps his most savored pastime throughout his life was improving recipes to the delight of his family and guests. In retirement, he was happiest being Nonno to 13-year-old granddaughter Saisha, and 9-year-old twin grandsons Dylan and Shawn. Watching them grow and passing down family stories and customs brought him the greatest joy.

He is survived by his wife, Jane Luciani of Saratoga, NY; son, Michael Luciani and his wife, Amanika of Toronto, Canada; son, Mark Luciani and his wife, Janelle of Park Ridge, NJ; son, John Luciani of Ballston Spa, NY; daughter, Maria Luciani of Queensbury, NY; grandchildren, Saisha Luciani, Dylan Luciani and Shawn Luciani; brother, Franco Luciani and his wife, Elena of Sant’Elpidio a Mare, Italy, and nephew, Lorenzo Luciani of Rimini, Italy and niece, Laura Luciani of Sant’Elpidio a Mare, Italy.

His immediate family will celebrate his life privately on Thursday, December 30th at Becker Funeral Home, in Westwood, NJ. Luigi regularly took great pleasure and pride in arranging floral displays at work and at home. The funeral home requests that any friends wishing to send arrangements in his memory, kindly coordinate delivery on Thursday, before noon.