By Claudia Wysocki
MONROE — Whether you won the game or not, the best place for any team afterwards to be was at Mr. Cone at the south end of Monroe on Route 17M.
That’s because Joe LoScalzo, who owned the ice cream stand for 43 years, created memories that will never be forgot in this community, not just with ice cream and shakes but because of who he was and what he did.
LoScalzo died Jan. 17. He was 70 years old.
He was a successful business owner who generously supported and sponsored many local teams and leagues.
His good friend, John Battaglia, owned The Three Bears at the north end of Monroe. And when he spoke of his friend, it seemed the memories always returned to family.
‘A Monroe brand’“He instilled the foundation of family and community values, hard work, ethics and respect for everyone,” Battaglia said.“Joe was a very special man and Mr. Cone was a very special place. We will not be the same without Mr. Cone and we will truly miss him.”
Tony Cardone, owner of Fran’s Hallmark and now a Monroe Town Councilman, described Mr. Cone as “a Monroe brand, and, with his family, Mr. Cone became a home for all of us.”
Cardone also noted the ice cream stand’s iconic advertisement: Only the words “Mr. Cone.”
“There was no address, no phone number, no mail, or his ads,” Cardone said. “The reason was obvious - everyone knew how to get him.
Kid looked forward to spring when Mr. Cone would open, and then sad when it closed in the fall. And working at Mr. Cone was the job every teen wanted.
So imagine, then, being related to Mr. Cone.
The name Mr. Cone came in a dream“Having Mr. Cone as my uncle was seriously the best,” said his nephew Germain Lussier in an email exchange with The Photo News. “It meant anyone who grew up anywhere in the area knew who you were or at least one of your relatives.
“It was also wonderful because I never ordered at the window,” Lussier added. “ There could be three huge lines of people waiting for ice cream, I’d walk in, see if they needed help and, if not, just make myself something. On more than one occasion I used the privilege to impress a date. It was like being Henry Hill in ‘Goodfellas’ but, instead of the Copa, we had the Cone.”
Lussier said that his cousins will say their father’s favorite ice cream was either hard pistachio ice cream or vanilla soft serve. “However, as his nephew, I don’t think I ever saw him eating any ice cream,” Lussier added.
As for the name, “Uncle Joe said it came to him in a dream the night before he opened 43 years ago. I know that sounds too good to be true but, knowing my uncle, that gives it even more weight.”
Former Town Supervisor Sandy Leonard said LoScalzo had recently sold the building. After her friend’s death, she and her husband, Ed, put up a sign and family members put up a wreath and some small signs. People have continued to write on the building as if it were a memorial.
“The property had been sold and so has the small mall next door; they will be torn down to make way for a bank,” Leonard said. “It’s kind of like losing a piece of ‘old Monroe.’”
End of an era
Funeral director Tom Sullivan said he knew Joe to be a charitable and genuine person who never said no of anything asked of him.
Sullivan said he thanked Loscalzo’s wife Susan and his family “for sharing Joe and allowing him to do all that he did.
“He loved this community and the people,” Sullivan added. “We are all very lucky to have known him as a friend and businessman. The closing of Mr. Cone and the passing of Joe Loscalzo is the end of an era but remains a piece of Monroe’s history.”
Bob Quinn contributed to this story.