Harry Leo Nicolai; Early Open-Heart Patient

Harry Leo Nicolai, a longtime Sun Valley resident and one of the first Americans to undergo open-heart surgery, has died in Burbank.

Nicolai died Tuesday at Saint Joseph Medical Center. He was 74. He had entered the hospital three weeks earlier due to a heart condition.

Nicolai was born April 16, 1916, in Hampton, Minn., and lived there until he was 25, said his son, Steven. Nicolai moved to Glendale in 1941 and began work at Bendix, where he was a shop superintendent for 33 years. He moved to Sun Valley in 1951.

Nicolai will best be remembered for his perseverance through a lifetime of medical trouble, his son said. He had rheumatic fever as a child and suffered a serious stroke in 1955, his son said. The stroke left him temporarily paralyzed and deprived him of his ability to speak English. He communicated in German, which he had been taught during childhood, until he learned English again through classes.

In 1956, Nicolai became the fifth person to undergo open-heart surgery in the western United States. Twelve years later, he again had the operation to replace a worn heart valve.

Nicolai retained his good spirits until his death, insisting he “had never been sick a day in his life,” his son said.

Just three years after his stroke, his son recalled, Nicolai was coaching Little League baseball.

He was a member of Holy Family, a social group at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Sun Valley. He also was president of the Bendix Management Club in 1955.

He is survived by his wife, Kathryn Hand Nicolai of Sun Valley; one son, Steven Nicolai of Cowan Heights; two daughters, Patricia Ann Harrington of Northridge and Jaci Marie Nicolai of Bellingham, Wash.; seven brothers and sisters; and 10 grandchildren.

Mass was celebrated Friday night at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. Graveside services will be held at 9 a.m. today at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills.