Vito Pascucci (October 22, 1922 – August 18, 2003) was an American businessman, the CEO and co-founder (with Leon Leblanc) of G. Leblanc Corp, an American musical instrument firm based in

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

. The firm started out as the American branch of the French G. Leblanc company.

Career

Born in Kenosha on October 22, 1922, Pascucci studied trumpet as a child and became interested in instrument repair. His brother Ben owned a music store in which Vito began repairing instruments as a teenager. After being drafted in 1943 he became the repairman for an army band, the 11th AAF Band led by Mark Rubinstein. When that band was disbanded, in order to keep such prominent members from the infantry, Mr Rubinstein suggested to Glenn Miller to take many of his prime musicians. Among them was Vito. When

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...

requisitioned some members of that band for his swing ensemble, they suggested he take Pascucci. Pascucci earned Miller's respect by repairing a smashed trumpet overnight with only a

broomstick A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...

to work with. Miller and Pascucci planned to run music stores together after the war, but Miller was assumed dead after a plane he was travelling in disappeared. Despite his grief, Pascucci went ahead with plans to visit instrument factories in France. Among those he saw was the factory of the G. Leblanc firm. There he was given a "duffel bag full of clarinets" and a promise that after the war he would become the company's

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

distributor. He and Leon Leblanc formed Leblanc USA in May 1946, and within a decade the company was among the largest manufacturers of clarinets in the country. Pascucci created the "only complete family of plastic-bodied clarinets" available in the U.S. He was also among the first instrument-makers to exploit mechanization and assembly lines in the production process. He became chairman of the

American Music Conference American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and was inducted into the group's hall of fame in 1980. He was awarded the Edwin Franko Goldman Memorial Citation in 1982. He became president of Leblanc SNC when he bought out the French parent company in 1993. In 1998, Pascucci was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

. Pascucci died of

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

on August 18, 2003 in Kenosha.

References

External links

Vito Pascucci
NAMM Oral History Program Interview (2003) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pascucci, Vito 1922 births 2003 deaths People from Kenosha, Wisconsin Businesspeople from Wisconsin Deaths from kidney failure 20th-century American businesspeople United States Army personnel of World War II