18/07/2021
My Grandpa Tony passed on Friday, July 16 at the age of 97.
He was born Anthony Joseph Puliafito on Nov 13, 1923 in Rockport, Massachusetts. His parents (my great-grandparents) were Italian immigrants from Sicily. He grew up in Boston and enlisted in the Navy during the Great Depression as a teenager, and was a veteran of WWII. After the war, he met my Grandma Margaret, and they married in 1947 in Lynn, MA. They traveled the world together before they started their family in Revere, MA, where he built the home where their 3 children grew up (my mom and her siblings).
Despite growing up 3,000 miles away in Northern California, I was fortunate to be able to see him and my grandma regularly, either in Boston or when they would visit us. I’m lucky to have spent so much time with them as a kid, and am very grateful for that.
He loved cooking Italian food and making his homemade gravy. Later in life he also got into gardening, and was always proud to show you his tomatoes, peppers, and herbs.
He also loved to tell stories about his life, especially about working for himself. If you ever had the chance to hear him tell his stories, even if you’d heard some of them more than once, it was always a pleasure to see his passion when he would recall how things went down.
The last time I got to see him in person was May of 2019. I am sad I didn’t get a chance to see him since then, primarily due to the last year of the pandemic, but I cherish the photos and memories of that visit and of all the times I’ve seen Grandpa Tony throughout my life.
RIP Grandpa Tony
Nov 13, 1923 - July 16, 2021
