Obituary of Anthony V. Pacilio

Anthony Pacilio was born to Daniel and Theresa Pacilio in the small village of East Rochester, NY on November 26, 1937. He was fortunate to grow up with 3 beloved siblings, Jim, Johanna, and Alex. He also had a large extended Italian family nearby who supported him in his early endeavors and raised him with a strong Catholic faith. He attended East Rochester high school and was a part of the baseball, football, and basketball teams. He was a member of the band, choir, and Latin club. He graduated in 1955 as the Valedictorian of his class. His next adventure took him to the University of Notre Dame on a full academic scholarship where he focused on Engineering, Marketing, History, and Philosophy. He also was a student manager of the football team. He excelled at his studies and graduated in 1959 with a double major in Aeronautical Engineering and Marketing. While attending Notre Dame he was asked by the priests if he would like to enter the seminary. Ultimately, he decided to go a different route and start a family while still remaining involved in the Catholic faith and church. After college, he moved to Granby, Connecticut to start his career and family. He attended St. Therese’s church where he served as a deacon and taught religious education classes. He started working at Hamilton Standard as manager of marketing where he met his first wife. The couple had 3 children Mike, Gina, and Lisa. Tony briefly served on the town’s Board of Education, coached little league and supported his children in all of their passions. Next he worked for United Technologies as a marketing consultant which allowed him to pursue his love for traveling while exploring new cultures, arts, and religions to enlighten him further. He had the desire and excitement to learn and interact with all, thus making him a beloved role model to all his children. Tony later married his second wife and they moved to Simsbury, Connecticut with his stepchildren Clark and Kellie. Together they had Christine. Happily he had his large family of 6 requiring a Brady Bunch station wagon for all their outings to see musicals, plays, sports games, museums, and hours of time perusing book and music stores. Typically these outings ended in his favorite trip to a local ice cream parlor. His vivid memory and quick recall of history and events made him an incredible story teller who will be missed by all of his children and grandchildren who now so quickly turn to Google for answers. He spent a great deal of time researching and documenting the family tree back 150 years. After that he worked at MJI and Associates in Huntington, NY for his dear lifelong friends, Mike and Klive Ianelli. He loved living in his apartment in Halesite which had a view of the harbor and allowed him to be just a train ride away into Manhattan to refuel his vibrant, creative, artistic side. He retired from MJI in 2010. Although he had many close connections with people and his church, St. Patrick, he decided to spend his final years back in his hometown of East Rochester, NY. This move allowed him to be closer to family as well as become an integral part of the Knights of Columbus where he served as the chapter’s Treasurer. He was a member of St. Jeromes parish. Even up until his final days, he served as a deacon, religious educator, and Eucharistic minister. Over the years, he accumulated endless books on art, history, philosophy and religion which filled his modest, monk sized apartment. He was a self taught painter who provided numerous paintings for his family and friends. He was also an avid writer who wrote a play, The Recovery Room, which was produced off Broadway in Manhattan. He loved traveling. His favorite places were England, France and Italy. Although it is hard to imagine he would have much spare time, when he did, he enjoyed watching and playing golf. Anyone who knew him well knew he was coming from the melody of whistling which kept his mind fresh and positive. Above all, the most important thing to Tony was his family. He spent time with his 6 children, 14 grand children and 9 great grand children. He traveled to FL, NC, KY, TX, CA and WA just to get some quality time with his family. His was predeceased by his brothers, Jim and Alex Pacilio. Their wives are Ferne and Fran. He is survived by his sister and brother –in-law, Steven and Johanna Hoskins. He is survived by his children and their spouses, Mike and Greta Pacilio, Gina Kowalski (Pacilio), Lisa Pacilio, Clark and Angela Jorgensen, Kellie Schultz, and Brian and Christine Hamilton (Pacilio). He is survived by his grandchildren and spouses, Michael and Jenn Pacilio, Christopher and Ashelyn Pacilio, Daniel and Lizeth Burr, Kayla Kowalski, Brooke Martorano, JT Pacilio, Ryan Pacilio, Noah Schultz, Travis Jorgensen, Brock Hamilton, Zoe Schultz, Briggs Hamilton, Ryan Jorgensen and Ava Jorgensen. He is survived by his great grand children, Serena Zapata, Madison Pacilio, Christopher Pacilio, Silas Pacilio, Samantha Burr, Michael Pacilio, Natalie Pacilio, Solomon Pacilio and Johnny Martorano. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” ~Dr.Suess