Obituary: Joseph John Cincotta

Joseph John Cincotta, at 91

 Joseph John Cincotta died on Friday, September 25, 2026, at the age of 91. He was born on January 19, 1935, in Cambridge.

A gifted athlete from a young age, Joe starred in high school sports, earning varsity letters in football, basketball, and baseball every year from 1949 to 1952 and serving as co-captain of the football team. In his junior year alone, he lettered in five varsity sports, playing football in the fall, hockey and basketball together in the winter, and track and baseball together in the spring. He was inducted into the Cambridge Rindge and Latin Athletic Hall of Fame in recognition of his achievements.

He also served as president of his school’s Junior Council. That early promise carried him to professional baseball, where he played as a catcher in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, known for a powerful throwing arm and a bat that made him a threat at the plate.

He went on to serve his country as a United States Marine. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Austin Peay State University and his master’s degree in education from University of Memphis. From the 1950s through the 1980s, he taught school and coached in Memphis, Tennessee. Joe had a lifelong connection to Hull, where his grandfather, Angelo Reale, settled in 1924. He also ran the family’s Italian restaurant, Angelo’s Spaghetti House, where he became known to generations of regulars as “Pizza Joe.” He also taught for many years in the Cambridge public school system.

Joe was an unbelievable cook, a natural athlete, and the kind of man who could fill a room the moment he walked into it. In addition to having a passion for opera and horse racing, he remained an avid pool player, competing in a local men’s league in Cambridge until the age of 90. He never ran out of stories, and he never let a meal go by without making sure everyone at the table had seconds. His company was cherished by many cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.

Joe was previously married to Nancy Scarborough of Tennessee, with whom he shared three children. He is survived by his sisters, Mary Walker and Jeanie Caroli; his children and their spouses, John and Amy Cincotta, Jill and Dave Orpen, and Dina DiTullio; his eight grandchildren, Colton and Trevor DiTullio, Kristina, Katherine, and Kayla Orpen, Jake, Hannah, and Joseph Cincotta, who proudly carries his grandfather’s name forward as the seventh generation. He was also the proud great-grandfather of Theodore DiTullio.

Relatives and friends are invited to a funeral Mass on Saturday, October 17 in Saint Agnes Church, 32 Medford Street, Arlington, at 11:30 a.m., followed by a burial with military honors in Cambridge Cemetery. This service also will be for Nancy Scarborough Cincotta of Memphis.