With slideshow: Pitts barber Joe Sawaya cuts three generations of family's hair, still going strong

By Jen Eyer State Community Engagement Director

Posted on Wed, Dec 1, 2010 : 6:40 a.m.

Joe lets Leo know he's doing a great job as he gets ready to put the finishing touches on the youngster's first haircut.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

A first haircut is always a momentous occasion — even more so when it's done by the 80-year-old barber who's been cutting your family's hair for 50 years.

Three generations of Allis family men gathered at Pitts Barber Shop last week for just such an occasion. It was high time the youngest, one-year-old Leo, got his first haircut. Accompanied by his father, David of Ypsilanti Township, his grandfather, Lyle, and his mother and siblings, Leo got his first cut courtesy of barber Joe Sawaya.

The Allis family's connection with Sawaya dates back to 1958, when Sawaya first cut Lyle Allis's hair. Sawaya opened Pitts Barber shop in 1957, and although he sold it in 1995, he still barbers there part-time.

Sawaya gave David Allis his very first haircut in 1966, and now Leo follows his older brothers Gabriel, 9, and Michael, 3, as the latest Allis boy to call Sawaya their barber.

Sawaya said if he lives long enough, he'll cut the next generation of Allis boys' hair as well.

"I like to make people look good — that's what I do. When I can't make people look good anymore, I'll stop cutting hair," Sawaya said.