How many of you remember “Nellie the Hairdresser?” She was Nellie Licata Lukowski, and she worked at her profession for more than 64 years.

She was born in 1914, in Albion, where her parents had immigrated to from Sicily. As an infant, she was taken back to Sicily and later returned to America with her family when she was 12 years old.

She learned the art of hairdressing from a friend and went house to house with the tools of her trade, charging her customers just 25 cents each.

Nellie also worked at the Dunn & McCarthy shoe factory, generally known as the “shoe shop,” which employed many of the people who lived in the area.

She lived on Barber Street and later moved to Clark Street, just west of Washington Street, with her parents, Onofrio and Catarina (Sciortino) Licata and her husband, Ed Lukowski.

In the early 1960s, Nellie and Ed, along with her parents, moved to Franklin Street, where she continued her work and where she was followed by most of her original clientele. She started her workday at 7 a.m. and often worked until 9 p.m. And if someone needed her services on Sunday, she was ready to help.

Nellie truly enjoyed her work in the company of her customers who were first her friends. She served coffee and cookies to people under the hairdryer and inspired friendly conversation. She was always a pleasure to be around.

I ran into Nellie at the Fingerlakes Mall shortly before her passing. Her appearance and her personality had changed little from how I had remembered them over the many years I had known her.

If you have any memories of Nellie that you would like to share with me, please call me at 252-0544.

Tom DeFurio is former supervisor for Sennett.