Joseph Cicippio Jr.; Son of Hostage in Lebanon

Joseph Cicippio Jr., son of an American held hostage in Lebanon, has died, apparently of a heart attack, hospital officials said Monday.

Cicippio, 35, was taken to North Penn Hospital in Lansdale, north of Philadelphia, early Sunday morning and died a short time later, said a nursing supervisor who refused to give her name.

Joseph Cicippio Sr. was taken hostage in Beirut on Sept. 12, 1986. His son is the third member of his family to die since he was taken into captivity.

A sister, Rose Abell, 73, died of cancer months after his kidnaping. Her husband, Bill, 80, died last year of a heart attack.

Cicippio Jr. was married and the father of a 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son.

The elder Cicippio, now 60, was walking to work as acting comptroller at the American University of Beirut when the pro-Iranian Revolutionary Justice Organization abducted him.

Last year, the kidnapers sentenced him to death in retaliation for Israel’s abduction of a Lebanese Shiite cleric. Cicippio was granted reprieves as his family held vigil at his brother’s home in suburban Philadelphia, where a sign in the front yard marks Cicippio’s days in captivity.