[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 190 (Tuesday, December 15, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E3007-E3008]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING THE LIFE AND WORK OF MR. ARNOLD MINICUCCI

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 15, 2009

  Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
life and work of Mr. Arnold Minicucci of Watertown, Connecticut.
  For the last 59 years, Arnold Minicucci has been the proud owner and 
manager of Minicucci's Incorporated, a menswear clothier and downtown 
mainstay in Waterbury, Connecticut. This coming January, he will retire 
and close the store he took over from his father more than a half-
century ago, ending one of Waterbury's most beloved and long-tenured 
businesses.
  After returning from service during World War I, Arnold's father 
founded Minicucci's in Waterbury in 1919 as a maker of custom men's 
suits. Upon his return from service in the Navy during World War II, 
Arnold joined his father's business in 1946 and became full owner of 
the store four years later, transitioning the establishment into a 
retail suit seller. Soon thereafter, Arnold moved the store from East 
Main Street to its present location at 52 Bank Street. Throughout its 
history, Minicucci's has served mayors and governors alike, with loyal 
customers whose relationship with the store can be measured in decades.
  Anyone who's spent any time living or working in Waterbury knows 
Arnold and his beloved wife, Mary, both of whom were born and married 
in the Brass City. They are true pillars of the community: former 
chairs of the Cancer Ball, long-serving members of the Immaculate 
Conception Church and the Exchange Club, and a driving force behind the 
construction of the Little League Stadium, to name but a few of their 
strong ties to Waterbury.
  Every one of Arnold's hundreds of friends and loyal customers who 
attend his retirement

[[Page E3008]]

party early next year will receive a silver money clip engraved with 
the words ``Minicucci's 1919-2009.'' That night, all those that have 
been touched by Arnold's work will celebrate him and his family's 
business. But, amidst the celebration, there will also be a palpable 
pang of sorrow--that they don't make businesses like Minicucci's 
anymore. Or men like Arnold Minicucci.

                          ____________________