Chicago Newspaper Artist John Nocita Meets Last Deadline
- Don DeBat
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
By Don DeBat
Old newspaper writers, editors, artists and photographers never die. They just etch their work into history, then quietly fade away.
One unforgettable talent was John Nocita, 83, a gifted newspaper artist and graphics specialist, who met his last deadline on December 30, 2025, after a stalwart battle with Alzheimer’s.
“John Nocita’s successful 45-year newspaper career started as a copy boy at the Chicago Tribune in 1963,” said his son, attorney John Nocita, Jr. “He graduated from a photo-retouching school in Rochester, NY, and was hired by the Chicago Daily News in 1968. John chose retouching over photography because it paid more money.”
After Nocita joined the star-studded Chicago Daily News art and graphics department, and refined his skills at photo retouching, his career took off, his son said.
Nocita moved to the Chicago Sun-Times in 1978, after the Daily News folded. He was promoted to director of the Sun-Times Editorial Art Department, which was responsible for creating graphically appealing front-page layouts focused on compelling news photos.
“It was an era when you could walk on a CTA train or bus and see half of the riders reading a Sun-Times,” recalled Richard Cahan, former picture editor of the paper. Cahan would send photos to Nocita’s 12-person department for airbrush retouching and have the color properly toned.
Under deadline pressure, Nocita’s staff also worked on map production, charts, sketches, illustrations and special-section page layout. When the workload became heavy Nocita’s response to some requests often was no, earning him the nickname “Dr. No.”
“He’d say no, but later Nocita always ended up getting the jobs done,’ Cahan recalled.
In 1994, Nocita was promoted to Advertising Art Director of the Sun-Times, and finished his long career in that executive position in 2008.
“My Dad lived to go to work,” said John Nocita, Jr. “There were a lot of characters there, and it was its own little world in that old building on the Chicago River.” The Sun-Times building at 401 N. Wabash was razed in 2004 to make way for Trump International Hotel & Tower.
“On the surface, John was a quiet, unassuming guy—an ‘average Joe’ from Jefferson Park on the Northwest Side. But professionally, he was a respected Old School newspaper art and graphics expert,” recalled Don (Garbo) Garbarino, his friend for more than five decades.
This writer met John Nocita at the Daily News in 1968, and we became friends and softball buddies. I was just starting out as a young business news reporter. Years later, I worked as Real Estate Editor of the Daily News and the Sun-Times.
The memorable day I met John, he was busy air brushing the cleavage on a photo of an attractive, buxom blonde. “The editors like to show cleavage in print. It helps sell newspapers,” John quipped.
By the 1970s, Nocita was established as a gifted artist on a staff that included star illustrator John Downs, Art Director and page-design specialist Jerry Gibbons, illustrator Jim Yepp, and artists Tom Carollo, Jack Bruza, Al Phillips, Glenn Winston and Laurie Hamilton.
John was loved and respected by virtually every staffer at both papers for his wit and amazing graphic knowledge and talent.
Swift Johnny also was a gifted athlete and the star center-fielder on the original 1970 Chicago Daily News 16-inch softball team, managed by Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Mike Royko.
“I marveled at a diving catch Nocita made near the fence in a championship game at Thillens Stadium in the 1970s against Media League rival Chicago Today,” recalled Garbarino.
After an occasional loss or a bad game, Nocita was the only player brave enough to stand up at our sponsor—the famous “Billy Goat Tavern”—and jokingly criticize the team’s play, while the gruff Daily News manager Royko fumed, because he despised losing.
In a 1973 Media League playoff game at Lincoln Park, tough-as-nails Nocita volunteered to play catcher to give Royko pitching advice. There was a crucial play at home, and catcher Nocita caught the ball, blocked the plate, tagged the runner out, and received an elbow to the face. Nose broken, Nocita laid on the ground smiling while clutching the softball to his chest.
Nocita, and his dear late friend Sam Gendusa, also managed the Nomads softball team which played at Dunham Park on the Far Northwest Side.
Peggy, John’s wife, often sent young sons Mike and John, Jr. to accompany their father to the games so Nocita would need to skip the traditional trip to the sponsor’s saloon.
The Daily News softball team celebrated its 25th anniversary with a “reunion and survivors” game on June 8, 1996 at Lincoln Park. Nocita and Royko pitched against each other for the first time ever.
Each team featured a star-filled roster of former award-winning newsroom staffers and an assortment of AA Hall of Fame ringers. Nocita’s “Iron Heads” edged “Royko’s Raiders” 16-13. However, the Raiders led five to one in pulled hamstrings. A post-game beer party was hosted at the “Billy Goat” on Lower Michigan Avenue.
After winning dozens of championships and tournaments, the renowned Daily News/Sun-Times squad was inducted as a historic team into the Chicago 16-inch Softball Hall-Of Fame in 2008. Nocita personally designed the team’s congratulatory full-page ad placed by the Sun-Times in the HOF dinner program.
Born on November 18, 1942, to parents Frank and Angeline (Bucaro) Nocita, John grew up in the tough Little Italy district near Chicago and Hudson avenues—a neighborhood that eventually would become Cabrini Green.
John was graduated from DePaul Academy High School.
He married Peggy, his high school sweetheart in 1963, and moved to Jefferson Park on the Northwest Side. He purchased a brick two-flat with his family and coached his sons and grandsons in Little League baseball. Later, in retirement, he resided in Norwood Park.
Along with pitching for the Sun-Times softball team throughout the 1980s, Nocita also was an avid, life-long Lionel train collector.
“John was a loving father and grandfather with a playful sense of humor. He was always willing to lend a helping hand to friends and neighbors in times of need,” said Michael Nocita, his youngest son.
Even as he endured the effects of Alzheimer’s, John’s warm personality continued to shine. “He was well-known for his kind nature by the compassionate and caring staff at Waverly Inn Memory Care, where he spent his final months,” said John Nocita, Jr.
“John worked hard, played hard and lived a full life. He will be missed greatly by his family who loved him so very much,” said Michael Nocita.
Nocita is survived by his sons, John (Rose) Nocita and Michael (Jan) Nocita, seven grandchildren—Tyler (Hannah) Nocita, Dr. Megan Nocita, Angelina (John) Story, Emily Nocita, Nick Nocita, John Nocita, and Alyssa Nocita—as well as two great-grandchildren, Caleb and Sam Story.
He also is survived by siblings Frank (Rosemary), Phillip (Geralyn), Marie (Chuck) Rinella, and Jackie Ferrara. John was preceded in death by his wife, Margaret (“Peggy”), sisters, Christine, Bernie, and Carol, and his brother, Joseph.
Services have been held. In lieu of flowers, the family suggested memorials to the Alzheimer’s Association or Misericordia Home.
For more housing and softball news, visit www.dondebat.biz. Don DeBat, a 1999 Softball HOF inductee, is writing a book titled “Chicago’s Game.” DeBat also is co-author of “Escaping Condo Jail,” the ultimate survival guide for condominium living. Visit www.escapingcondojail.com.
