Anthony Vitullo

ANTHONY  VITULLO

Anthony Alexander “Tony” Vitullo, age 86 of Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania, passed away just as he had always lived, gracefully, on Monday, February 24, 2014, while under the care of the wonderful doctors and nurses of the ICU of the Veterans Hospital in Oakland, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Incredibly, it was his only hospital visit since he had been in is fifties.

Born, Antonio Alessandro Vitullo on September 8, 1927, he grew up on Flowers Avenue in the Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh, where “Tony One-Hop” loved playing sandlot baseball with the neighborhood boys and attending St. Steven Catholic Grade School.  He graduated high school and attended Connelly Trade School, where he studied drafting.  He served in the U. S. Navy during WW II as a signalman on the Destroyers U.S.S. Lowry and U.S.S. Barton.  His family enjoyed hearing the stories of his enlisted days, including the accounts of the Navy initiation ceremony performed when sailors first crossed the Equator and his adventures on the Bikini Islands.

Returning from duty he went on to become a draftsman for several companies, including the Mesta Machine Company where he worked on the design of steel mills.  He was a parishioner of St. Clare of Assisi Parish in Clairton, Pennsylvania and an active member of the Men’s Century Club.  Above all Tony was a shining example of a true family man, as his wife, daughters and grandchildren took priority over any of his own interests.

Tony was preceded in death by his parents, Giuseppantonio and Angela “Angelina” Pasqualina (Carlozzi) Vitullo, both originally of Montagano, Campobasso, Molise, Italy.  He is survived by his loving wife of 53 years, Antoinette “Toni” (Lagona) Vitullo; two daughters, Rosemarie Laudato of Whitehall Borough in Pittsburgh and Victoria Baker of Jefferson Hills; four adoring grandchildren, Haley C. Baker, Sydney C. Baker, Angelina M. Laudato and Benjamin A. Baker; his only sibling, beloved “big sister,” Mary (born, Maria Giovanna Pasqualina Vitullo) (the late Roy) Cirincione of McDonough, Georgia, formerly of Munhall; 11 loving nieces and nephews, Christina Burk, Donna Cirincione, Mark Cirincione, Joanne Cirincione, Patrice Lombardo, Theodore Lipnicky, Jr., Christopher Lipnicky, Anna Watt, Beth Ann Chiappetta, Kelly Caruso and Mark Lagona and many special great nieces and nephews

Friends will be received in the Stephen D. Slater Funeral Home, 1701 Route 51 (Large) in Jefferson Hills,  from 6 to 8 pm on Wednesday, February 26, 2014 and from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 on Thursday, February  27, 2014.  A prayer will be held in the funeral home on Friday, February 28, 2014 at 9 AM with Mass of Christian Burial following at 10 AM in St. Clare of Assisi Parish in Clairton.  Burial with Military Honors will be held in Jefferson Memorial Park in Pleasant Hills Borough in Pittsburgh.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Jefferson Hills Library 925 Old Clairton Road, Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania 15025..