Simon V. "Cy" Avara, a longtime barber who spent decades cutting the hair of Baltimore mayors, Maryland governors and ordinary folks, all the while keeping up a steady stream of colorful stories and informative commentaries on current events, died Saturday at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson of multiple myeloma. The longtime Cockeysville resident was 81.
"I was more than a client, and we became really good close friends. I have enormous affection for Cy," said former Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes. "Just to be in his company really lifted your spirits. We've really lost a pillar of the community."
"As long as I've had hair, Cy was my barber," said former Gov. Marvin Mandel. "He was one of the nicest people I've ever known. He was always willing to be helpful and looked out for people who had needs. He was just a decent guy."
The son of Vincent S. Avara, a barber, and Mary Serio Avara, head of the Maryland State Board of Motion Picture Censors, Simon Vincent Avara was born in Baltimore and raised on South Carrollton Avenue in Pigtown.
He attended Thomas A. Edison Vocational High School in downtown Baltimore until he was 14, when his father was killed in a car crash. He left school to help support his family.
He later returned to school and was 45 when he earned his General Educational Development certificate.
Mr. Avara's father and an uncle owned a Lombard Street barbershop during the 1930s and 1940s.
"My best friend, Bud Spindler, came home on shore leave after World War II. He said to me, 'Cy, why not give me a haircut?' I had no idea, so I went to my uncle's shop to ask him how to cut hair," Mr. Avara told The Dundalk Eagle in a 2011 interview. "I didn't set out to be a barber, but I started liking it."
Mr. Avara served in the Army from 1953 to 1955, where his expertise as a barber helped accelerate his career.
After his sergeant asked him to cut his hair and was pleased with the result, Mr. Avara went from being a private to a staff sergeant in three months, and then became the regular barber at the NCO club.
After being discharged from the Army, Mr. Avara returned to Baltimore and in 1960 established the Baltimore School of Barbering in the 1500 block of W. Pratt St. He later changed its name to the International Academy of Hair Design and Technology.
"I knew I was either going to open a lush hair salon or a school," Mr. Avara said in The Dundalk Eagle interview.
This coincided at a time when men's hairstyles were changing, largely motivated by teenage singers and bands and the coming of the Beatles in 1964.
Mr. Avara had been influenced by Edmond Roffler, who introduced European haircutting methods to American barbering in the late 1950s, and became a Roffler franchisee.
Older barbers were eager to learn the latest contemporary styles and after studying with Mr. Avara could call themselves "hairstylists."
During the 1960s, Mr. Avara taught women how to style men's hair. The barbers union also hired him to instruct white barbers on cutting African-Americans' hair, and African-American barbers on giving haircuts to whites.
A decade after opening his West Pratt Street school, Mr. Avara established Avara's Academy of Hair Design on Dundalk Avenue, which is now operated by a son, Lawrence J. "Larry" Avara, who lives in Upperco.
Mr. Avara gave second chances to people such as those on parole by helping them learn barbering, obtain their licenses and open their own shops. For those who couldn't afford the tuition, he awarded scholarships.
In 1975, for the convenience of legislators, Mr. Avara opened a two-chair barbershop in a formerly unused men's room in the James State Office Building in Annapolis.
When Mr. Avara sold his original barbering academy in 2013, he told The Baltimore Sun that by 2010, he estimated that he had trained 5,000 men and women in the art of cutting hair and about 1,500 in advanced styling techniques.
Mr. Avara served for years as president of the State Board of Barber Examiners, and in that position helped win the fight against proposed haircut taxes and mobile barbershops.
In 2011, Mr. Avara was inducted into the Barbering Hall of Fame.
"My wife used to ask me how come it took so long to get a haircut, and I said I liked sitting with Cy and getting his human wisdom on the state of the world," said Mr. Sarbanes, who was a customer for more than 40 years.
"He was a wonderful human being and was a great friend to so many, and he did so much good work," he said.
"All of his clients liked him. He was a good guy, and Cy was never overbearing," said Mr. Mandel. "We're really going to miss Cy Avara."
For years, Mr. Avara raised funds for St. Vincent's Center for abused children in Timonium, and once a month, he sent his student barbers there to give the children free haircuts.
"Near the end of his life, it bothered him that some of the children at St. Vincent's couldn't afford eyeglasses, and what he hoped to do was provide them with glasses," said his son. "So, he established the Simon Avara Eyeglasses Memorial Fund for them."
Mr. Avara stopped working about six weeks ago.
"Cutting hair was his biggest thing, and I don't think he knew how sick he was," his son said. "He just wanted to get well and get back to school. He loved what he did. It never felt like work."
"Why would I quit? It's a feel-good job. People leave our shop and look better," he said in The Dundalk Eagle interview. "You can have an $800 suit and still not look good. It's all about the hair."
Mr. Avara was a Baltimore Colts and Ravens fan.
Mr. Avara was a communicant and attended Mass daily at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, 101 Church Lane, Cockeysville, where a Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Thursday.
In addition to his son, Mr. Avara is survived by his wife of 57 years, the former Rita T. Gioca; two other sons, Thomas V. Avara of Parkton and Michael T. Avara of Matthews, N.C.; a daughter, Susan Watson of Baldwin; a sister, Carmelita Silanskas of Clermont, Fla.; and eight grandchildren.
An earlier version of this obituary gave incorrect information about the number of grandchildren who survive. The Baltimore Sun regrets the error.