By Jon Gambrell
Enquirer contributor

Dan Martinelli cut generations of hair in Cincinnati at his downtown barbershop.

"Everyone in Cincinnati knew him," said nephew Joe Martinelli. "Most men downtown had a haircut by him at one time or another."

Cutting the hair of politicians, businessmen and others, Mr. Martinelli carried on his father's business for more than 65 years.

Mr. Martinelli, 92, died Dec. 19.

Born March 30, 1911, he served in the South Pacific during World War II and came back to Cincinnati to work in the barbershop his father founded in 1914.

Together, they imported the flat-top haircut from Italy that took 1950s fashion by storm, according to his wife, Beulah.

"While he was in the service, he didn't like the way hair was butchered," she said. "So when he came back, he worked on the hairstyle that became the flat top."

His fame as a barber grew and soon he had accolades across the country and around the world.

"There would always be Italian barbers in there learning who couldn't speak English," Joe Martinelli said. "He'd teach them his style of cutting entirely with scissors."

Mr. Martinelli drove a 1962 Chevrolet Corvette to work every day for more than 20 years, always direct and young at heart.

"I am not a hair stylist or designer," he told the Enquirer in a 1992 article before his retirement. "There are only two kinds of licenses that are issued pertaining to hair, a barber's and a beautician's license. I don't call myself something I'm not."

A resident of Reading, Mr. Martinelli moved to Monroe, N.C., after selling his barbershop in September 1994.

Besides his wife, Mr. Martinelli is survived by a son, Thomas C. Martinelli of Edgewood, Ky.; a daughter, Patricia D. Martinelli of Monroe, N.C.; two sisters, Marie Paolo of Cincinnati and Olga Vilardo of Bloomington, Ind., and three grandchildren.

Mr. Martinelli's remains were cremated and will be interred at the Salisbury Veterans Hospital grounds in North Carolina next week during a military service.

The family asks donations be made to St. Xavier Church, 607 Sycamore St., Cincinnati, OH, 45202, in his name.

E-mail jgambrell@fuse.net