John Bligh
- Retired teacher
Nicholas Farinacci, a retired industrial arts teacher, died on July 2, 2021, of cardiopulmonary arrest. He was 98.
A UFT member for more than 50 years, Nicholas, who was born in Brooklyn, lived and worked in Queens. He taught at JHS 158, Marie Curie, in Bayside for most of his 37-year career. Many of the projects Nicholas worked on with his students were designed to benefit others, including the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens Village and St. Mary’s Hospital for Children in Bayside.
Former students stayed in touch and greeted him at local events, such as the Greek Festival, until his passing, said his daughter, Patricia Thilman. One former student who attended West Point found common ground with his interviewer at the U.S. Military Academy discussing industrial arts projects he did in Nicholas’ class. He would call his former teacher regularly and they would meet when he came to town, Thilman said.
After his retirement, Nicholas taught at the Si Beagle Learning Center at the UFT’s Queens borough office.
He enjoyed traveling to places such as Portugal, Italy and Switzerland, and he often stayed in elder hostels with his wife of 60 years, Isabel, who died in 2017. They also volunteered together on projects with Habitat for Humanity.
Nicholas participated in a teacher exchange program in 1968, spending a year at the Wellsway School in Keynsham, England. He took his entire family abroad with him. “All nine of us went with our travel trunks on the SS France,” an ocean liner, said Thilman. “On school breaks, we all traveled as a family.”
Nicolas had a particular interest in clowns, and he enjoyed carousel restoration.
Nicholas followed his wife in donating his body to science through a program at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University’s Department of Anatomical Science.
In addition to Thilman, Nicholas is survived by sons Anthony, Dominic, John and Paul; daughters Grace and Victoria; and eight grandchildren.
Condolences may be sent to:
Patricia Thilman
69-35 44th Avenue
Woodside, NY 11377
