Nicholas Gerald “Jerry” DiCuccio

Nicholas Gerald “Jerry” DiCuccio, who left his mark on the worlds of law and amateur baseball in Ohio, passed away November 29 after a long and valiant battle with multiple medical issues. He was 84 years old.

In 2000, Jerry was named by his peers as Lawyer of the Year by Ohio Lawyers Weekly, amid a career in medical malpractice that spanned more than 55 years. In the 1970s, he won the largest medical malpractice settlement in Ohio history at that time. One of his most celebrated cases was McMullen v. Ohio State University Hospitals (2000), which helped set causation standards for medical malpractice. The entirety of his career was within the various iterations of the same Columbus law firm, known mostly as Butler Cincione & DiCuccio during his tenure.

In addition to his robust career, Jerry indulged in several other interests, most notably amateur baseball. He left what he had hoped would be the start of a professional career in baseball when his parents convinced him to pursue a degree rather than continue a 1959 agreement to pitch with the Philadelphia Phillies franchise. In the 1970s, he established the All-American Baseball League, Inc., a charitable foundation dedicated to sponsoring amateur baseball opportunities for young men in Central Ohio. The organization’s sponsorship, which started as a multi-team league for 11- to 12-year-olds, progressed through various age groups, culminating in a single travel team for 17- to 18-year-olds, known as the Columbus All Americans.

He took great joy in coaching players and helping them take the next step to college baseball. In 1987, the newly formed Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League offered Jerry the franchise for Central Ohio, resulting in the Columbus All Americans becoming a nationally recruited team of college players. Scores of young men nurtured in Jerry’s program signed professional contracts and at least 20 made it to Major League Baseball.

His team won the first three league championships in 1987, 1988, and 1989, and grabbed five additional championships before the organization folded in 2008. In 2004, Jerry was inducted into the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League Hall of Fame.

Jerry‘s other great passion in sports was golf. Following years as an avid golfer, he was a partner in a national sporting-goods chain, U.S. Golf.

Jerry was born in Euclid, Ohio, on June 11, 1941, to Guerino R. DiCuccio, an insurance salesman and later manager, and Mary L. Zalimeni, a homemaker, musician, and artist. Guerino emigrated from Cerro al Volturno, Italy, in 1927. Mary, whose family hailed from the area near Pescara, Italy, was born in Ashtabula County, Ohio.

Jerry attended Euclid High School, where he captained both the football and baseball teams, and graduated in 1959. In 1963, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Notre Dame. He earned his law degree at The Ohio State University in 1966.

His many activities never curbed his love of books, and he was well read in American, European, and Ancient Roman history, among many other topics. He spoke Italian and traveled regularly throughout Europe, the Caribbean, and the United States.

He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Janice (Kaufman), their son, Robert (Lindsay Marie Nelson) DiCuccio; his children from his first marriage of 25 years to Rosalind Capparell (dec’d), Michael (Alison Goldstein) and Nicole DiCuccio; and his grandchildren, Clare, Joseph, Maura, and Wesley DiCuccio.

As per his wishes, a private family internment was held at Resurrection Cemetery on Dec. 16, 2025.