Even as he was aging and his health was failing, Frank Cicco Sr. continued to work as much as he could at his store, Frank N. Cicco Custom Tailor.

“He worked up until he couldn’t. Most tailors, they don’t retire,” said his son, Larry Cicco of Cranberry Township.

Cicco, 87, of Butler died Friday at the VNA Inpatient Hospice.

He owned his West North Street tailor shop for about 65 years. His grandfather, Fedele Cicco, started the business in 1910 in Butler.

Larry Cicco worked with his father at the store since the early 1980s.

He said his father had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2013, and the treatments took a toll on his body. He said he and his brother, Frank Cicco Jr., had mostly been running the store for the past year, and their father helped out when he could.

Larry Cicco said the business will continue.

Larry Cicco said customers would come from all over the greater Pittsburgh area, and many people who moved out of the area to other states would continue to buy clothing from the store.

His father was the president of the Custom Tailors and Designers Association of America from 1989 to 1990.

Cicco also was active outside the store.

Larry Cicco said his father would provide donations to programs at the Butler YMCA and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Butler County, where Larry and his brother are active.

Cicco was a member of Saint Paul Roman Catholic Church. He also was a past member of the Rotary Club of Butler.

He was a president of the Butler Country Club during the mid-1990s.

Ray Lassinger, who owns the Mansion in Penn Township and Associated Ceramics in Sarver, played golf with Cicco twice a week at the country club for the past 25 years.

“They don’t come any finer than Frank,” Lassinger said. “Always a gentleman. And a pretty good golfer.”

He said Cicco was a competitive golfer, and was a particularly good putter.

Lassinger also bought clothing from Cicco, including an Elvis Presley inspired suit at one time.

“He made quite a few suits and sport coats for me,” Lassinger said.

He said that Cicco also had donated many suits and other clothing items to charities over the years, which he said was something that few people knew about.

Dr. Tony Smaldino, a podiatrist with Family Foot Care Associates, had known Cicco for about 23 years as a member of the country club. He said Cicco took him under his wing at the club and made him feel at home.

“He kind of paved the way for other guys like me,” Smaldino said.

He said he played golf with Cicco.

“Even into his 70s, he was very competitive,” Smaldino said.

Outside of the club, Smaldino said Cicco was positive and was a hard worker.

“Really, there aren’t many guys who can do what he did,” said Smaldino, who owns items of clothing from Cicco’s shop. “He had an incredible talent for detail and style in tailoring. Most people took it for granted because it was North Street in downtown Butler, but they could compete with the best anywhere.”

Arrangements for Cicco are handled by the Martin Funeral Home, Butler.