Belmonte Cucolo

Belmonte Pasquale Cucolo

26 September 1920 - 20 December 2005

Pawleys Island, South Carolina

Known as Bill to his friends and classmates, Belmonte Cucolo was the

first child born to Italian immigrant parents Anthony A. and Andreana

Vacca Cucolo in Waterbury, Connecticut. Bill became an engineer at

birth. His father owned West Shore Concrete in Suffern, New York,

specializing in highway and bridge construction. He learned the art of

grading, drainage and paving at an early age. His fondest memories

include the summers he was employed as a water boy to the construction

crews as his father completed the extraordinary Storm King Highway

along the west bank of the Hudson River from West Point to Newburg.

Construction involved blasting through solid rock and young Bill

pestered the foreman numerous times to be the Instrument man, or the

one who carried the blasting caps -unbeknownst to his mother.

Bill’s parents instilled in him a tremendous sense of patriotism. He

attended Kentucky Military Institute and graduated from The Manlius

School, Manlius, New York in 1938. Bill received an appointment to

West Point from Senator John M. Mead of New York and entered the

United States Military Academy on 1 July 1939. He graduated in January

1943 commissioned as a 2nd Lt and assigned as a Chief Advisor to the

Philippine Army during World War II, providing training and logistical

support to their guerrilla units in the Mindanao and Sulu Islands.

Applying his engineering skills, Lt. Cucolo designed and supervised

the construction of several transportation routes, small seaports and

the army aircraft airfield in Demonte, Mindanao. After graduating

West Point and prior to heading to the Philippines Islands, Bill

married his high school sweetheart, Eugenia “Jean” Jacobs in July

1943. Jean’s father, Major James R. Jacobs, Ret. USA, was head of the

Military History and Spanish Departments at The Manlius School.

Upon resigning his commission as Captain in the US Army after WWII,

Bill returned to Suffern, New York and joined the New York State Power

Authority in 1956. Over his 25-year career Bill became an authority on

transmission lines and hydropower achieving Senior Policy Advisor and

Chief Licensing Coordinator with the Power Authority. His greatest

achievements were the design and construction of the Quebec to Marcy

765-kv line, the state’s first 345-kv line from Niagara to Edic, the

St. Lawrence (Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant/Dam), Niagara, and

Blenheim-Gilboa hydropower projects. He was affectionately known as

“Electric Bill” to his friends and colleagues.

Bill retired from the Power Authority of the State of New York in June

1983 and he and Jean moved to Pawleys Island, S.C. in 1987. He served

on the Georgetown Sewer Commission and played on the men’s golf league

at The Litchfield Country Club. He created a woodworking shop at home

and made many beautiful pieces of furniture for friends and family. As

a Licensed Professional Engineer in both New York and South Carolina,

Bill’s professional affiliations continued with him through

retirement: NY State Society of Professional Engineers, American

Society of Civil Engineers, and the US Committee International

Commission on Large Dams; the latter provided the opportunity to

advise the Chinese government on hydro-power development in Beijing in

1982.

Bill was a credit to his alma mater, to his class and to his country.

Thoughout his life he was a leader; he was compassionate and caring,

truly the kindest man. Many remember the great happiness and fun he

gave everyone who knew him - as a brother, uncle, father, grandfather,

and as a staunch and loyal friend and West Point classmate. Bill is

survived by Jean, his loving bride of 62 years, his sons William

Belmonte of Stony Point, NY and James Ripley of Laguna Niguel, CA, and

his daughter Andreana Rosamond of Washington, D.C. Bill also leaves a

much loved brother, Anthony A. “Tony” Cucolo, Jr. of Houston, Texas,

USMA Class of 1946, and nephew BG Anthony A. Cucolo III, USMA Class of

1979. Bill’s sisters, Carmela Palomba and Gloria Albini of Waterbury,

CT sadly predeceased him. He will be forever missed by his

grandchildren Steven, Matthew, Evan and Zachary Cucolo. “Uncle Bill”

is also survived by several nieces and nephews who adored him and whom

he cherished.

The family is eternally grateful for all the love and support

provided by Bill’s friends and neighbors, particularly his “drivers”

from the Pawleys Island Presbyterian Church, over the last difficult

months of his life. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests

donations to Brookgreen Gardens, Murrell’s Inlet, S.C. or Pawleys

Island Presbyterian Church, Pawleys Island, S.C.

Services will be held at the Pawleys Island Presbyterian Church on

December 27, 2005 at 2 pm. Bill will be interred in West Point in the

Spring of 2006. He has now entered the Long Gray Line.