Anthony Joseph “Tony” Babbaro

CHILLICOTHE – Anthony Joseph “Tony” Babbaro returned to his Creator, Lord and Savior on Dec. 29, 2006, at Fayette County Memorial Hospital in Washington Courthouse.
“Tony” was born to the late Raphael Babbaro and Marie Yurio Babbaro on Oct. 26, 1916 in Punxsutawney, Pa., and moved to Youngstown as a boy.
He was a graduate of Rayen High School in 1936 and became the lead drummer for a dance band. He met the woman of his life, Irene Nemeth, and married her in 1942.
He was a butcher at Toths Meat Market and then trained to become a machinist and tool-in-die maker working at Youngstown Steel Door, Folgmer’s Manufacturing Company and Sheet and Tube. He further expanded his experimental machining career at Cornell University as the Supervisor and Instructor of the Student Machine Shop, Clark Hall, in the Physics Department at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
He was predeceased by his brother and sister-in-law, Angelo (Louise) Babbaro, and his brother-in-law, Carl Clark.
He is survived by his two sisters, Mildred Clark and Ann DeGifis; his two daughters, Betty Marie Babbaro (Richard) Sandy of Chillicothe and Rene Babbaro (Charles) Brucker of Pleasanton, Calif.; three grandchildren, Michael Anthony (Jean) Sandy of Indianapolis, Carl Anthony and Margaret Elizabeth Brucker; four great-grandchildren, James, Claire, Emily and Joseph Sandy; nieces, Marianne DeGifis and Mary Lou Blazquez; and nephew, Ralph Babbaro; and many cousins.
Tony loved to sing. He started the graduate student “Lunchbaggers” Barbershop group at Cornell and was also the founder of the Ithaca (SPEBSQSA) Men’s barbershop group. He loved to sing “lead” and always wanted to get a "tag" quartet to sing such favorites as “The Ole’ Songs” and “My Wild Irish Rose.”
Tony enjoyed family picnics, tennis, hikes in the woods, sledding, ice cream cones at Isaly’s and at Parker’s Frozen Custards, swimming with the family, basket smelt fishing with his daughters and singing with his daughters at the piano especially “Ave Maria,” “O Solo Mio” and barbershop songs. Starting to golf in his sixties, he became an accomplished senior golfer “always walking the course, never riding a cart.”
Tony loved the Lord and loved the Mass. He celebrated them while living in Ithaca and while living with each daughter for six months in Chillicothe and Pleasanton. He faithfully went to Mass each day, was an altar boy at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel as a child and continued to serve in that capacity at St. Mary’s and at the VA in Chillicothe. He also belonged to the men’s Cursillio group at St. Augustine’s Church in Pleasanton, belonged to the Rosary Group, led the singing to the Blessed Virgin, kept Holy Hour Vigil and went to coffee after Mass at both churches, kept the Stations of the Cross daily and was a lifetime member of the Knights of Columbus.
“We always admired and honored our Daddy for being the life of every family gathering by his ever present smile, kindness and words of encouragement by being ‘the life of the party.’ As a dear friend in Pleasanton so eloquently puts:
‘Dear Tony,
We hate to see you leave us
We'll miss your wonderful singing and your happy smiles each day.
We ask our God to bless you and keep you in his care.
We love you and always remember our admiration that never ends for you!!!’”
Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 4, at the Rossi Brothers Funeral Home in Youngstown.
Services will be Friday Jan. 5, at 8:30 a.m. at the Rossi Bros. Funeral Home in Boardman and a Mass of Christian Burial at 9:30 a.m. at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in Youngstown.
Continued celebration of Tony’s life will follow and friends and family are invited.
Arrangements are under the direction of Rossi Brothers Funeral Home.
Rossi Bros. – A Family Owned Funeral Home