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Golden Dawn co-owner Carmen Naples dies at 94
By SARAH LEHR
YOUNGSTOWN
Not many places these days do business the way Golden Dawn does. The servers wear black shirts with white ties, there are no machines to take debit or credit cards, swearing is strictly prohibited and everyone is treated like family.
A group of loyal customers gathered at the establishment Saturday, after the death of the bar’s co-owner, Carmen Naples, at 94. They all referred to him as “Uncle Carmen” and praised the bar’s affordable Italian and American comfort food – especially the pizza, the schooners of beer and the jumbo steak.
The Golden Dawn opened in 1934 in the midst of the Great Depression. It was one of the first places in the city to secure a liquor license after the end of Prohibition. The establishment settled at its current location – a pie-shaped white stucco building on Logan Avenue – in 1945.
Over the years, the restaurant, owned by Carmen and his brother, Ralph Naples, served an array of local and national celebrities, including Vice President Joe Biden, musician Tom Petty and Youngstown State University President and former Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel.
Jerry McNally, a former Youngstown councilman, said the Naples brothers were never star-struck, even though their restaurant was a favorite among politicians and sports stars. “They treated everybody the same,” he said.
McNally, who often went to Carmen for advice, described him as a down-to-earth person who would go out jogging wearing his work boots.
Tammy Lipkovich, a longtime friend of the Naples family, has been going to the restaurant for 15 years. She remembered the sound Carmen’s wedding ring would make when he rapped on the kitchen window to check on orders.
The restaurant, patrons agreed, is first and foremost a family place. There’s no pool table. and the TV is always turned to either “Jeopardy,” “Wheel of Fortune” or the news.
Carmen, a World War II Army veteran, graduated from The Rayen School in 1938. He went on to Ohio State University where he was a member of the 1942 national football championship team. He married his high school sweetheart, Patricia Naughton, in 1946. She died in 2008.
Carmen, a proud Italian-American, celebrated his wife’s Irish heritage every St. Patrick’s Day at the Golden Dawn when he donned a white sweater with “Erin Go Bragh” stitched across it in green.
“We should have that sweater framed,” Lipkovich said.
Every St. Patrick’s Day, the Naples brothers gave out free corned beef and cabbage dinners.
“Sure, some freeloaders came to the place,” McNally said. “But the Naples were class acts and always took people at their word.”
Since Carmen and Ralph Naples didn’t like computers, they didn’t allow cards as payment. An I.O.U., however, is accepted.
Local sports memorabilia adorns the restaurant’s walls, and the place is packed after football games. Ursuline High School football coach Larry Kempe is a regular. Before a win last season, Kempe ate liver and onions at the restaurant. He kept ordering liver and onions for five-straight weeks after that just in case it was a lucky charm.
Friend and Golden Dawn employee Michael Rounsley summed up Carmen’s interests in three words: “church, family, business.”
“He was an icon,” Rounsley said.
Carmen Naples had seven children, 26 grandchildren and 34 great-grandchildren. Calling hours will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday and 10 to 10:45 a.m. Tuesday in St. Edward Church, 240 Tod Lane.
Golden Dawn will be closed Tuesday.