Salvatore Pronesti

Taps has softly sounded for another member of "The Greatest Generation" Salvatore (Sam) Pronesti, stone mason, artist, loving father and devoted husband passed away in the early morning hours of Feb 14, 2017. He was 90 years old. Born in Philadelphia, Sammy lived most of his life in Morton, where his parents owned a grocery store during the years of the Great Depression. His parents, Francesco Pronesti and Romana Bruni had four sons: Francis, Vincent, Salvatore, and Anthony (Tony). Sammy was an altar server at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church and attended St.James high school in Chester, Pa. He finished his high school education at St.Mary's School in Langhorne, Pa. with the intention of entering the priesthood. However, following the death of his older brother Frank during an Army Air Corp training exercise during WW2, he changed his mind and entered the US Army after graduation. He completed Basic Training, and was on his way across the Pacific when word came of the Japanese surrender. He finished his duty as an MP in Japan and following that received an Honorary Discharge from the Army. Sammy was able to meet his other brother, Tony, (serving in the Merchant Marines) in Tokyo during his service there. Following his discharge, Sam attended classes in drafting and architectural design at Temple University under the G.I. bill, then went to work with his uncle as a stone mason. In this profession he worked on many high profile projects including the bell tower at Valley Forge park, the Chapel at St.Joseph's University (where his granddaughter Rachel married Kyle Sullivan in 2016), and countless other projects in Delaware and surrounding counties. He built his home on Kedron Ave across the street from the original OLPH church, and those of a "certain age" will remember him repairing the stone walls there when the occasional car would damage it. Sammy married Lee in 1960 and together they have 3 children and 8 grandchildren: Frank, the oldest, is married to Fran Orlando and they have a son Gabriel and daughter Allegra; Lisa is their daughter and is married to George Morrison. They have two daughters: Rachel, married to Kyle Sullivan, and Samantha, engaged to Thomas Shuttleworth. Their youngest son is Gregory who lives in Hawaii with his wife Denise (Hodson) and their four sons, twins Sammy and Giovanni, Zachary, and Joshua. Family was central to Sammy's life, and he always put the family's needs ahead of his. His wife Lee never drove a car, so each day Sam would drive her to and from her job as Operating Room Coordinator at Methodist Hospital in South Philly, arranging his work schedule around hers. In this way they saw to it that their children each completed their college education. Together, Sam and Lee enjoyed art, the theater, and travelling. As a child he actually spoke Italian at home and later in life his fluency in that language came in handy when they travelled to Italy, where everyone assumed he was a native because of his dialect. Back at home, Sam continued to build and to add to his reputation as an artist in stone. With his now college age children's help, he built a brick sidewalk in front of their home that was laid in a beautiful herringbone pattern. Many people, stopped for a moment at the corner traffic light, would admire his work and comment on his pretty young laborer, Lisa, his daughter.Once Lisa married George, he did the stone and masonry work on her house, garage, fireplace, walkway, and hundreds of feet of stone walls. From there he moved on to Frank's house, again adding his artistry to his and Fran's fireplace and patio. Back in Morton, he built a stone foundation for Lee's greenhouse, then a raised flower garden with a fountain in the back yard. And then came Saint Francis. A massive old oak tree in the front yard was slowly dying and Sam had the idea of having it carved into a larger than life statue of St. Francis of Assisi. So the tree was cut back and a chain saw sculptor was contracted to create the statue. This public display of his faith led to many newspaper articles, letters, and kind words of appreciation from friends and strangers alike, and Sam loved it. But once a tree always a tree and over time St. Francis's roots continued to absorb moisture and deterioration set in. It was decided to cut him off at the base, remove the stump, and re-mount the statue on a stone base. This proved to be Sammy's last stone project. He built an oval stone base on which to mount the popular sculpture, but the damage to the statue worsened, and in the fall of 2016 St. Francis had to be taken down, prompting more words of appreciation from people who had admired it for many years. Years later, the foundations Sammy laid remain strong, as do the rest of the stone projects that Sam built throughout the tri-state region. But the strongest foundation he ever built is the one that he built for that most important thing in his life-his family. As Lisa so lovingly put it, he is the stone and Lee is the mortar that holds their family together. He set an example that we can all look up to, and he will live on in his work, his art, and our hearts. Relatives and friends are invited to his viewing Saturday, February 18, 2017 , from 9:30-10:50 AM Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 2130 Franklin Avenue, Morton, PA and to his Funeral Mass at 11:00 AM. Interment is private. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Sam's memory to the Little Sisters of the Poor, 5300 Chester Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19143 would be appreciated.