U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-CurrentTURECKI - Paul B., North Tonawanda artist 10/5/2001
Paul B. Turecki, a North Tonawanda artist, died Tuesday (Oct. 2, 2001) in his home after a 2&1/2;-year battle with cancer. He was 55.
Turecki lived in North Tonawanda all his life and worked briefly at Durez Division of Occidental Chemical Corp.
Turecki's watercolor of Buffalo Harbor was included in the Carnegie Art Center's juried exhibition "Convergence '99." He also had exhibited his works at the Centre Art Gallery in Williamsville's Georgetown Square and the All Artists Show at the G&R Gallery of Wildlife Art on Seneca Street.
Survivors include his wife of 22 years, the former Deborah A. Gnacinski; a son, Paul W. of Alaska; a sister, Trulee Reimer of the City of Tonawanda; a brother, David J. of Vancouver, Wash.; and a grandson.
A funeral service will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday in John O. Roth Funeral Home, 25 William St., City of Tonawanda. Burial will be private.
BECKLEY - William D. 12/18/2001
William D. Beckley, 84, a retired Bethlehem Steel Corp. machinist, died Dec. 5, 2001, in Highland Lake Center, Lakeland, Fla., after a long illness.
A native of Hamburg, he moved to Lakeland 14 years ago.
Beckley served with the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Surviving are his wife, the former Kathryn Eastland; three daughters, Virginia Sechrest of Lakeland, Phyllis Narkiewicz of Fraser, Mich., and Cheryl Toomer of Brooksville, Fla.; two sons, Roger of Lennox, S.D., and Kenneth of Brooking, S.D.; a sister, Loretta Bensen of Delevan; two brothers, Robert H. of Buffalo and Glenn R. of Lakeland; 10 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
A military funeral was held Dec. 10 in Lakeland, where he was buried.
BISHARA - Carl A. 12/18/2001
NIAGARA FALLS - Carl A. Bishara, 86, a retired butcher, died Monday (Dec. 17, 2001) in Fairchild Manor Nursing Home, Lewiston, where he had been a patient for two months.
Bishara was born in Cortland, but his family moved to Niagara Falls when he was 5 years old, and he attended local schools.
He worked as a meat cutter and butcher at several Niagara Falls stores until 1941, when he joined three of his brothers in the family business, Bishara Bros. Delicatessen at Pierce Avenue and 13th Street. He worked there until the family sold the business in 1986.
His time there was interrupted by a four-year stint in the Army during World War II. He was based in Europe.
He was a member of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, Lewiston, and the Cedars of Lebanon Club. He was a former member of John J. Welch Post 381, American Legion.
Surviving are a brother, Joseph A. of Lewiston, and a sister, May Wesolowski of Erie, Pa.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday in St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, 1073 Saunders Settlement Road, Lewiston, after prayers at 10:15 in Otto Redanz Funeral Home, Michigan Avenue and 10th Street. Burial, with military honors, will be in Oakwood Cemetery.
CALABRESE - John P., founded visitors guide 12/18/2001
John Paul Calabrese, 46, of Williamsville, founder, president and publisher of Welcome magazine, a guide for visitors to the area, died unexpectedly Sunday (Dec. 16, 2001) in Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, Amherst.
Born in Buffalo, he attended Cardinal Dougherty High School and Sweet Home High School, where he played varsity football. He earned a bachelor of science degree from the University at Buffalo.
In 1984, Calabrese founded Welcome magazine, a premium hard-cover guide to the Buffalo and Niagara Falls area that is distributed to Western New York hotels and motels. It is placed in guest rooms to introduce visitors to local attractions and provide a guide for dining and shopping.
An avid golfer, he played with family members and friends at many courses in the area. He also enjoyed cooking and was known for his special barbecues.
He and his wife, the former Bonnie Bruno, were married in April.
In addition to his wife, survivors include his mother, Sarah of Clarence; and two brothers, Chuck of Snyder and Dr. Michael of Buffalo.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Thursday in St. Mark's Catholic Church, 401 Woodward Ave., after prayers at 9:15 in Perna Funeral Home, 1306 Hertel Ave. Burial will be in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Town of Tonawanda.
CRAWFORD - William, U.S. diplomat dies 12/18/2001
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) - William Crawford, a specialist in Soviet and Eastern European affairs who was U.S. ambassador to Romania during the Cold War, died Friday at his home in Bethesda. He was 86.
Crawford served in Havana, Moscow, Paris and Prague, Czechoslovakia, before President John F. Kennedy named him minister to then-communist Romania in 1961. Crawford became ambassador when the legation in Romania gained full embassy status in 1964.
Crawford and his first wife, Barbara, founded the American International School to teach the children of U.S. diplomats in Bucharest, Romania. The school began in 1962 with two teachers and six students; today, about 400 students of more than 45 nationalities attend. Barbara Crawford died in 1979.
He retired from the Foreign Service in 1970. He then taught at the Landon School in Bethesda and served for 10 years as director of foreign relations for a marketing firm in Washington.
Crawford is survived by his wife, Gudrun; five children; a brother; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
CRONINGER - George J., patent attorney 12/18/2001
George J. Croninger of Williamsville, a retired patent attorney and inventor, died Saturday (Dec. 15, 2001) in Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, Amherst. He was 96.
Croninger, formerly of Fredonia, retired in 1995 from Brocton Machine & Foundry Corp. He was an inventor and author of many papers on the machine production of ceramics and was a consultant in the ceramics industry.
Born in Columbus, Ohio, he graduated from Ohio State University and Cleveland College of Law. He was an industrial patent lawyer in Pittsburgh and also was a department manager with an engineering firm in Swiss Vale, Pa.
Croninger was a member of the Institute of Property Law with the American Ceramic Society and a member of Delta Theta Phi and Fredonia Air Park.
A member of First Presbyterian Church of Fredonia, he was the widower of Evelyn Huron Croninger.
Survivors include his wife of 41 years, Sylvia Miller Croninger; three daughters, Carole Lee Voelp of Chattanooga, Tenn., Mary Lapham of Cazenovia and Barbara Karrer of Clarence Center; two sons, Peter Miller of Cape Coral, Fla., and John B. Bell of Fredonia; 14 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday in First Presbyterian Church of Fredonia, Central Avenue. Burial will be in Forest Hill Cemetery, Fredonia.
D'ANGELO - Liborio, master tailor 12/18/2001
NIAGARA FALLS - Liborio "Leo" D'Angelo, a master tailor here and in Sicily, died Sunday (Dec. 16, 2001) in Schoellkopf Manor Nursing Home after a long illness. He was 86.
D'Angelo was born in Cerda, Sicily, and graduated from a tailoring institute in Palermo. He owned and operated Sartoria Tailoring School in Cerda until emigrating to the United States in 1953 to join his brothers in Niagara Falls.
He worked at many men's clothing stores here, including Wake's, Ray's, Silverberg's, Wolke's, Main Tailors and Time Cleaners.
D'Angelo spent the last 30 years of his career at Muscarello's Dry Cleaners and Tailors, from which he retired in the mid-1990s.
He was an avid gardener and enjoyed listening to classical music. He was a parishioner of St. Joseph's Catholic Church.
His wife of 44 years, Lucy Peri D'Angelo, died in 1999.
Survivors include a son, Salvatore of Grand Island; three brothers Dominic, Frank and Joseph, all of Niagara Falls; and two grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in St. Joseph's Church, 1413 Pine Ave., after prayers at 10 in M.J. Colucci & Son Funeral Chapel, 468 19th St. Entombment will be in St. Joseph's Cemetery.
