James Yellico of Lake Grove, World War II veteran, dies at 99

James Yellico shunned the hero label because he felt he did what he had to do — shining shoes as a kid, serving in World War II, providing for nine children, his family said.

He was in his 70s when he changed, his soul lightening after going to church confession for the first time in three decades, his sons said. He danced in the living room with his wife, Iole. He pointed his thumb at his heart and then at a family member or a friend, a favorite gesture that meant “I love you.” He invited people over and cooked for them. He couldn’t do enough for his children, including helping home-school his grandchildren on history.

“He experienced the forgiveness of God at that time,” said son Stephen Yellico of Lake Grove. “He got his second wind in life at that age. His eyes were open and maybe he felt he had to catch up in life and say, ‘I got to do whatever I can for my family, more than being a good provider.’ ”

Yellico was 99 when he died on April 14 at the Lake Grove home he and his sons built, after declining due to a fall.

A child of the Great Depression, he never forgot the lesson from his years in Brooklyn. Starting at 10, he shined shoes for money, gathered coal bits along train tracks to burn for heat at home, played an accordion on radio talent contests and saved up to go to movies with his two siblings.

“He learned early in life that things were not going to be given to him,” his son said.

Yellico joined the Navy at age 17 in 1942, a month after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. On the light cruiser USS Mobile in the Pacific arena, he survived attacks by Japanese suicide planes and motorboats and 11 battles, including Okinawa and Iwo Jima, family members said. But the worse was when Yellico, a machinist mate in the engine room, fought to keep his ship afloat as it was tossed about by wind gusts of more than 80 mph during the infamous Halsey’s Typhoon in December 1944, which sank three destroyers and killed almost 800 sailors.

“It made him realize the importance of life at home, being away and dealing with all the deaths and stuff going on,” said his son Matthew of Lake Grove.

Discharged in 1946, Yellico dated the daughter of his parents’ friends.

They married in 1949 and later bought a Brentwood house with $20 that Yellico put down under the GI Bill.

The veteran had bad luck on the job front, but that never set him back, his sons said. He sold and delivered Hires root beer and sodas until Coca-Cola bought the company. He moved on to delivering Yoo-hoo chocolate drinks until thieves too many times stole the products, which he had to buy first, from his delivery trucks.

He and a friend used funds from the sale of their delivery trucks to buy a Shell gas station in Lake Grove, which they operated for 25 years until 1984.

He joined his sons’ The Home Boys construction company in his early 60s, cutting wood beams and lifting them to the roof until he was 78.

“He said those were the best years of his life, working with his sons and spending time with them,” Matthew Yellico said.

Over the decades, James Yellico’s views on gender roles evolved from the man as breadwinner and the woman as a stay-at-home mother. When his daughter Mary was born without most of her legs due to thalidomide, a drug taken by Iole and many other pregnant women at the time for morning sickness, he helped feed the baby, took her out in her stroller and made sure she got artificial legs, encouragement that helped their daughter flourish.

The experience helped bring the couple closer, and he eventually joined his wife and children in their Saturday “prayer hour” at home, after decades of setting the timer for an hour and reminding them the hour was up.

When Iole was diagnosed with cancer, Yellico cooked for her, cleaned her room and put away her clothes. She died in 2007.

In his last weeks, the father apologized to his children because he felt he had not done enough for them, even though he never went on vacation so all his earnings could support his family, his sons recalled.

“He was always generous and kind,” his son Matthew said. “He put his heart into everything.”

Besides his two sons, Stephen and Matthew, Yellico also is survived by children Martin of Albany; Mark of Sarasota, Florida; Mary Leonardi of Rutherfordton, North Carolina; Teresa Mariani of Syracuse; Robert of Rutherfordton, North Carolina; and Glenn of Charlotte, North Carolina.

A Mass was celebrated on April 19 at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Ronkonkoma, followed by burial at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Coram. Donations may be made to The Bridge to Life in College Point.