When you hear the name Nick Civella, you probably think of the Las Vegas "skim," the movie Casino, or a smoke-filled social club in Kansas City's North End. But if you try to look at the Nick Civella family tree, things get messy fast. People tend to treat the "Civella Family" as just a crime syndicate, but it was a real family first—with brothers, nephews, and a wife who stayed by his side for five decades.
Honestly, the bloodlines are just as complicated as the FBI wiretaps.
The Roots: From Sicily to the North End
Nick didn’t just appear out of nowhere as a mob boss. He was born Giuseppe Nicoli Civella in 1912, right in the heart of Kansas City’s "Little Italy." His parents were Italian immigrants who came over looking for the American dream, though their son ended up taking a bit of a detour.
While many sources focus on his criminal "coronation" at the 1957 Apalachin summit, the real foundation was the North Side. Nick wasn't an only child. He grew up in a tight-knit, often volatile environment where family loyalty wasn't just a suggestion—it was the only law that mattered.
The Brother: Carl "Cork" Civella
If Nick was the brains and the face of the operation, his brother Carl "Cork" Civella was the engine. You can't talk about the Civella lineage without Cork. Born in 1910, Carl was the older brother and, for a long time, the man handling the day-to-day grit of their business.
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- The Dynamic: Nick was the diplomat who dealt with Teamsters and Chicago bosses.
- The Role: Carl was the muscle and the manager.
- The End: After Nick died in 1983, Carl briefly took the throne before heading to prison himself.
It’s a common misconception that they were rivals. In reality, they were a duo. When the FBI started bugging their hangouts, like "The Trap" at 5th and Troost, they caught both brothers deep in the weeds of bookmaking and casino skimming.
The Missing Branch: Did Nick Civella Have Children?
Here is where the family tree usually trips people up. Nick Civella had no children of his own. He married a woman named Katherine in 1934. They stayed married for nearly 50 years, right up until his death from lung cancer in 1983. Katherine is often a footnote in history books, but she was the silent anchor in his life while he was busy dodging subpoenas and meeting with guys like Roy Williams.
Because Nick didn't have kids, the "Civella" name in the next generation of the outfit actually came through Carl’s line.
The Nephew: Anthony "Tony Ripe" Civella
If you’re looking for the "heir" in the family tree, it’s Anthony Civella. He was Carl’s son and Nick’s nephew.
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Tony (often called "Tony Ripe") is the one who really connects the old-school era to the modern age. He was heavily involved in the Las Vegas skimming operations that eventually brought the whole house down in the 1980s. When Nick passed away and Carl went to prison, Tony was the one left holding the bag—and eventually the title of boss, even if he had to run things from a prison cell for a while.
The Family Tree Breakdown (Simplified)
To keep it straight, think of it like this:
- The Patriarchs: Italian immigrant parents (settled in KC).
- The Power Players: Nick Civella (The Boss) and Carl "Cork" Civella (The Brother/Underboss).
- The Successor: Anthony Civella (Carl’s son, Nick’s nephew).
- The Modern Scion: Anthony Civella Jr. (Anthony’s son), who made headlines much later for unrelated legal issues involving ATM businesses.
The "Family" Beyond Blood
In the world Nick lived in, the term "family" was slippery. You had the blood relatives, but then you had the "made" family.
Guys like Carl "Tuffy" DeLuna weren't related by blood, but they were closer to Nick than most cousins. DeLuna was the brother-in-law of another mob figure, and his meticulously coded notes are actually what helped the FBI dismantle the Civella empire. It’s kinda ironic—the "family" was undone by a guy who took too many notes for his own good.
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Then there was the Spero brothers. People often confuse them with the Civellas because they were so intertwined in the Kansas City mob wars of the 70s. But the Speros—Nick, Mike, Joe, and Carl—were actually the ones who went to war against the Civellas. It was a "Brothers vs. Brothers" feud that turned the River Quay district into a literal graveyard.
Why the Civella Legacy Still Matters
Most people think the Mafia died out when Nick died in 1983. Not really. The structure he built—a mix of legitimate political influence (he was a Democratic precinct worker in his youth!) and illicit skimming—changed how law enforcement handled organized crime forever.
If you're researching the family tree because you're a genealogy buff, you'll find the Civella name peppered through Kansas City's North End history. If you're doing it because you love true crime, you'll see a pattern of intense, almost suffocating loyalty that eventually became their undoing.
Actionable Insights for Researching Mob History
If you want to dig deeper into the Civella roots or similar figures, don't just look at Wikipedia.
- Check the "Red Files": The Kansas City Public Library has a massive collection of organized crime files that include original police reports.
- Search the Census: Looking at the 1920 and 1930 US Census for Kansas City’s Ward 4 will show you exactly who lived in those crowded Italian tenements.
- Listen to Local Experts: Gary Jenkins, a former KCPD detective, runs a podcast called Gangland Wire that breaks down the specific relationships between the Civella and Spero families with incredible detail.
The Nick Civella family tree isn't just a list of names; it's a map of how power was held in the Midwest for half a century. It shows that even in the underworld, everything—absolutely everything—comes back to who you share a last name with.
To better understand the scale of the operations the Civella family controlled, you should examine the federal indictments from the "Strawman" investigation of the early 1980s, which explicitly detail the hierarchy of the family during its peak.