Obituary of Julie Arocho

Julie Arocho AROCHO - Julie, of Huntington Station, on November 14, 2009. Julie Arocho, also known as "Tito" by many was born in Puerto Rico. He had many brothers and sisters but was not raised with them. His mother gave his older brother to the grandparents and Tito was given away to a neighbor. Whenever he tried to go back to play with his siblings he would be punished. He worked for this family going to the market with the cows as a youg boy, he never finished education beyond the third grade. He traveled to Buffalo as a young boy working where he could and working long hours. He traveled to many parts of the country finding work. he came back to New York in the early sixties and began managing a coffee shop called "the Brown Cow" in Hicksville. He met his wife Kathleen in 1962. For two years he worked two and half jobs to save and buy his first house. They married and settled in Huntington Sta. and raised five children, Mark, David, J.J. and Nancy Aroho and Alaina Keane. While working for a owner of a restaurant he had the opportunity to buy it in East Northport. He called it the "Big Horn Restaurant". He put in long hours and was famous for his home fries and roasted chickens. Parking became a problem so he closed the Big Horn and relocated to Northport on 25A and opened Sky Top Diner in 1980. When customers had no money they "charged" their food up when the customers ticket with a promise of payment on pay day. In 1983, illness and bad legal advice, he was then forced into bankruptcy During those final days in business in the vacant store you can see rows and rows of old and faded customer tickets crumbling on the stainless steel back wall of the grill, long forgotten becasue no one left hungry. He didn't want anyone to go hungry, remembering how hungry he felt as a boy. In recent years Tito overcame many challenges concerning his health. He was diagnosed with Alzherimers and had many oher health problems but fought back due to his strong will. Visiting Tuesday and Wednesday, 2-4pm and 7-9pm at the M.A. Connell Funeral Home, 934 New York Ave., Huntington Station. Mass Thursday 9:30am, St. Elizabeth's R.C. Church, Melville. Burial Pinelawn Memorial Park, Pinelawn, NY.