Beloved Saugus barber dead at 70

SAUGUS – George Moriello, who as a Town Meeting member and the owner of Saugus’ oldest business was one of the town’s most popular residents, died this weekend after a long battle with bone cancer, his family said. He was 70.Moriello was the third-generation owner of the family business George’s Barbershop, an institution on Saugus’ Cliftondale Square that celebrated its 110th year in business this summer.The affable owner was cutting hair, talking politics and handing out lollipops, up until the last few weeks of his life, said his son, Mike Moriello.”He loved the people of Saugus, and that’s why he loved being a barber,” Mike Moriello said Saturday from the floor of the barbershop, which he opened less than 12 hours after his father died.”I guess I’m like him, I wanted to be here too,” Mike Moriello said about his and his father’s shared dedication to the store.But George Moriello was dedicated to much more than his own corner of Cliftondale Square. He was an active member of Saugus civic life as a member of the Freemasons, the American Legion and, most notably, Town Meeting.The Saugus native served on Town Meeting off and on for about a decade, one time even winning an election when he wasn’t even on the ballot.”He tried to get off Town Meeting and people wrote his name in,” said fellow Precinct 6 Town Meeting Member Sean A. Maltais. “They didn’t want him gone.”On Town Meeting, George Moriello was known as a voice of reason in heated debates, said Town Moderator Bob Long.”George really would boil it down to a very clear cut situation, oftentimes with humor,” Bob Long said. ” ? He’s going to be missed.”Whether in Town Hall or in his barbershop, George Moriello was a staunch supporter of Saugus, Mike Moriello said.”He’s a true Saugonian. He loved this town,” his son said. “He would stand in that barber shop, especially after a controversy, and he’d be there defending Saugus.”George Moriello was an Army sergeant who served in Vietnam and proudly displayed his sergeant stripes on his mirror at the barber shop, said Selectmen Vice Chairman and Veterans Council President Steve Castinetti, who worked closely with George Moriello for many town projects involving veterans.”It’s just a sad, sad day for the veterans of Saugus, the residents of Saugus, his family, and it’s a loss that I think will take a long time to overcome,” Castinetti said.George Moriello was also a proud grandfather of two grandsons and one granddaughter. He loved to watch his grandchildren play sports, giving them pointers when he could, Mike Moriello said.For all of George Moriello’s accomplishments, those small interactions with family are what Mike Moriello said he’ll miss most about his father.”My son had a hockey game today and my dad couldn’t be there,” Mike Moriello said. “He had a hat trick with 4 seconds to go, and my dad would have loved it.”George Moriello is survived by his wife, son and daughter and three grandchildren.Amber Parcher can be reached at [email protected].