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Nick Lucido (Family photo)
Nick Lucido, of St. Clair Shores, who for more than four decades owned and operated Nick Lucido Wholesale Produce Co., and showed up religiously at Eastern Market around 5 or 6 a.m. to get produce for his customers, died Saturday after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 68.
Lucido wasn’t famous, but among his friends, family, and customers he was more than that: a big, warm personality who embraced his Italian culture and left an indelible mark, often greeting people with a friendly handshake or hug and a “hey bro.” He also embodied the Detroit spirit — unpretentious, hardworking, honest, and filled with good humor.
“Nick was always a warm and loving, sincere guy,” said friend Rose Fenster. “He loved his Heineken. He loved his family and was so proud of them, so proud to be a papa (grandfather) too. Nick always made you feel welcome.”
The son of Alex and Providence Lucido, and one of four siblings, he grew up in Harper Woods and attended Grosse Pointe North High School.
In the 1980s, he started his produce business, growing it from a small operation to a robust one, serving restaurants in Metro Detroit.
His produce company was “a business built on honesty, hard work, and service. Nick treated every customer like family, often anticipating their needs before they even knew them — famously showing up with an item they forgot to order, saying with a smile, ‘I thought you might need this,’” read his obituary on the website of the Wujek-Calcaterra & Sons Funeral Home.
Nick Lucido
His son Michael Lucido, a former photojournalist for Deadline Detroit, occasionally worked with his father, helping deliver produce.
“He was a great man, a legend some would say,” said Michael Lucido.
Nick Lucido loved the Lions.
“Loved watching and coaching the Lions through the TV,” Michael said.
On Facebook, Michael wrote:
“The world lost a great man the other night. Our world will never feel the same without you, Dad. We all love you and will miss you greatly.”
Lucido married Cindy Palombo 42 years ago after dating for four years. They met playing racquetball in Roseville. They had two children, Michael and Christian.
“My best friend, my partner for 46 years, Nick, passed away yesterday,” Cindy posted on Facebook on Sunday. “His last weeks were spent with friends and our big, beautiful family, his grandkids playing around him, eating good food, drinking good wine and his favorite, Heineken… we were blessed to call him ours. He was one of the good ones.”
Besides his wife and two sons, he leaves behind his sister Noralisa Ferlito, brother Alex Lucido and four grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents and brother, Joe Lucido.
Visitation is Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Wujek-Calcaterra & Sons, Inc., 36900 Schoenherr at Metro Parkway (16 Mile). He will lie in state Thursday at 9:30 a.m. at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church (19950 Morningside Dr., Grosse Pointe Woods, MI 48236) until the 10:00 a.m. funeral Mass.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation in Nick’s memory to either Residential Hospice or the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN).
