Salvatore Passalacqua

Remembered as a devoted and loving grandfather, Salvatore Passalacqua, 69, died Tuesday in Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze.

He was born on Manhattan's West Side, moved to the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn as a teenager, and graduated from Lafayette High School. He relocated to Staten Island 40 years ago and lived in Castleton Corners until moving to Tottenville 11 years ago.

Mr. Passalacqua worked as a professional bagel baker for most of his adult life, and then operated a bread route on Staten Island for 20 years, before retiring in January.

He was loved by everyone who knew him, said his daughter, Letetia Omundsen. He always made us laugh - every time I think about him, it's about his smile and his laugh.

And there's his love for my mother. They had such a deep love for one another, like I've seen only in movies, never in real life.

Mr. Passalacqua enjoyed visits to Atlantic City and Las Vegas, and trips to Aruba in the Caribbean. He was a science-fiction buff and avid Yankees fan. Among his pleasures were watching television sports, especially football and baseball, with his grandchildren, and attending the games of his five grandsons.

In addition to his daughter, Letetia, he is survived by Marianne, his wife of 44 years; a son, Salvatore III; another daughter, Gina Sullivan; a brother Frank, and seven grandchildren.

The funeral is Friday from the Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home in Tottenville, with a mass at 10 a.m. in Our Lady Help of Christians Church, also Tottenville. Burial will follow in Resurrection Cemetery, Pleasant Plains.

Services: Our Lady Help of Christian's RC Church Friday, August 31,2012 10:00AM

Visitation: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home Thursday, August 30,2012 2-4 & 7-9PM

Cemetery: Resurrection Cemetery (Staten Island)

Location: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home

Church: Our Lady Help of Christians R.C.Church