U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-CurrentMILANO - Viola K., enthusiastic gardener 6/1/2002
Viola Kusmierczyk Milano, 92, a lifelong resident of Lackawanna who loved flowers and spent her life beautifying her community, died Thursday (May 30, 2002) in Ridge View Manor Nursing Home after a long illness.
Mrs. Milano won many horticultural awards for her flower and garden presentations and had held every office, including the presidency, of the Lackawanna Garden Club.
She married Joseph J. Milano in 1929. They were married for 70 years until his death in 2000. They operated Blasdell Liquor Store on Lake Avenue for many years until they retired in 1965.
Mrs. Milano was a member of St. Anthony's Altar & Rosary Society and the Lackawanna Senior Citizens.
Survivors include three daughters, Mary Saccomanno of Hamburg, Dorothy Brittain of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and Arlene Sliz of Lewiston; seven grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
Prayers will be said at 11:15 a.m. Monday in Colonial Memorial Chapels, 3003 South Park Ave., followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:45 in St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church, 1140 Abbott Road. Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery, Lackawanna.
MILITELLO - Joseph S., union negotiator 6/1/2002
Joseph S. Militello, 88, a retired organizer, negotiator and staff representative of the United Steelworkers of America and a combat Army veteran of World War II, died Thursday (May 30, 2002) in Garden Gate Health Care Facility, Cheektowaga, after a long illness.
He was wounded in action in Italy while serving as a staff sergeant in the 88th Infantry Division. He received the Purple Heart.
Militello went to work for Bethlehem Steel in 1946 and later became involved in union activities. He was a member of Local 2601 in Buffalo and Local 3657 in Pittsburgh. He retired from the union in 1977.
He was a lifelong member of and an usher at Holy Cross Catholic Church. He lived on Buffalo's West Side.
His wife, the former Mary Ann Janusz, died in 1989.
Prayers will be said at 8:45 a.m. Saturday in Joseph Spano & Sons Funeral Home, 2173 Niagara St.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 9:30 in Holy Cross Church, Maryland and Seventh streets. Burial will be in Mount Calvary Cemetery, Cheektowaga.
MILLER - Eve 6/1/2002
Eve Miller of Pompano Beach, Fla., a longtime resident of the Buffalo area, died Tuesday (May 28, 2002) in Imperial Point Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale after a long illness. She was 95.
Born Eve Podolic in Nanty Glo, Pa., Mrs. Miller moved to Buffalo in her teens and remained in the city until about 1941, when she moved to Hamburg. Along with her husband, George Sr., who died in 1995, she lived there until about 1991, when she moved to Florida.
She enjoyed crocheting, gardening and bowling.
Mrs. Miller is survived by her son, George Jr. of Granada Hills, Calif.; a daughter, Shirley Anderson of Pompano Beach, Fla.; nine grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered in August in Florida.
MURRAY JR. - Elmer F., retired lakes captain 6/1/2002
Elmer F. Murray Jr., a retired Great Lakes captain, died Thursday (May 30, 2002) in Beechwood Nursing Home, Getzville, after a long illness. He was 86.
Born in Goshen, Ind., Murray was one of 14 children.
Known as "Captain," he began his career as a deckhand with the Buffalo-based American Steamship Co. in 1934. He worked his way up the ranks, eventually becoming captain/master. Over a career that spanned 42 years, he captained 14 freighters that sailed the lakes to many ports. He retired in 1976.
Murray served as president of the International Ship Masters Association, and was a member of the U.S. Propeller Club and an officer with the Buffalo Ship Masters Association.
He served with the Coast Guard Reserve during World War II.
In retirement, he and his wife of 35 years, the former Vera Boore, enjoyed traveling to Europe, Hawaii and throughout the United States. Murray also enjoyed golf, playing three times a week.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by three daughters, Nancy Skill of Getzville, Karol Martin of Cheektowaga and Margaret Lari-
ver of Amherst; a son, James of Chicago; eight sisters; five brothers; and seven grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 9:30 a.m. today in St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church, 200 St. Gregory Court, Amherst. Prayers will be said at 8:45 in Amigone Funeral Home, 5200 Sheridan Drive, Amherst. Burial will be in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Town of Tonawanda.
NICHOLSON - Carol M.W., owned bake shop 6/1/2002
ATTICA - Carol M. Waggoner Nicholson, 84, of Attica, a retired bake shop owner, died Thursday (May 30, 2002) in Wyoming County Nursing Facility, Warsaw.
Born Carol Crouse in Attica, she was the former owner of the Bake Shop in Batavia.
She also was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Attica.
She was the widow of Nelson Waggoner, who died in 1961, and of Carl Nicholson, who died in 1996.
Surviving are two sons, Dennis Waggoner and Gerald Waggoner, both of Attica; two daughters, Mary Kay Butler of Mount Pleasant, Mich., and Linda Williams of Attica; a stepdaughter, Rita
Triftshauser of Buffalo; a sister, Carolyn Schaaf of Warsaw; six grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
A memorial Mass will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday in St. Vincent de Paul Church, 50 East Ave., Attica. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
PARUCH - Stasia A., helped found church 6/1/2002
A solemn Tridentine (Latin) Requiem Mass was offered Tuesday in St. Anthony's Catholic Church on Court Street for Stasia (Stella) A. Paruch, 77, of Buffalo, who died May 23, 2002, in Buffalo General Hospital after a short illness.
She was born Stasia Swistak in the historic abbey village of Koprzywnica in the Sandomierz province of Poland. As a young woman, she witnessed the burning of the village during World War II.
During and after the war, she cared for her widowed and disabled mother. After her mother's death, she continued caring for an infirm grandmother.
In the early 1960s, following her grandmother's death, she emigrated to the United States to marry Joseph Paruch, a Poland native and World War I veteran who had enlisted in Buffalo to serve as a carpenter with the early U.S. Army 1st Air Service Mechanics Regiment servicing biplanes in France.
Mrs. Paruch remained active in the Catholic Church following the death of her husband, who had served as organist at St. Barbara's Church in Lackawanna.
With her cousin, the late Rev. Victor Mroz, she was instrumental in founding Our Lady of the Rosary Church in South Buffalo to continue the traditional Latin Mass. She was a member of the Traditional Third Order of St. Francis.
Burial was in St. Adalbert's Cemetery, Lancaster.
PEETE - Frederick T. 6/1/2002
NIAGARA FALLS - Frederick T. Peete, 54, who worked in production at Tam Ceramics here for 25 years, died May 15, 2002, at home in Clearwater, Fla., after a brief illness.
Peete was born in Niagara Falls and attended local schools.
He served in the Navy from 1965 to 1971, during the Vietnam War.
Last year he moved to Clearwater, where he worked in the maintenance department of Morton Plant Hospital.
Survivors include three sons, Shawn of Hawaii, Steven of Largo, Fla., and Justin of Edgewood, Ky.; two daughters, Jennifer and Heather, both of Lewiston; two brothers, Gerald W. of Grand Island and Ronald of Folkston, Ga.; and two sisters, Sueann Socko of Grand Island and Denise Sicoli of Lewiston.
Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday in Memorial Park Cemetery, 5871 Military Road, Lewiston.
