GUGLIELMO PROVENZANO, 79
10/14/2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Guglielmo (Vinny) Provenzano, 79, a retired brick and stone mason, died Tuesday at his South Beach home after a brief battle with Lou Gehrig's disease.

Born in Vittoria, Sicily, Mr. Provenzano labored as a young man alongside his godfather. Together, they worked throughout Sicily constructing stone and marble buildings, primarily for churches and orphanages. He developed his craft in his early 20s, and brought his talent and skills before immigrating to the United States.

While living in Sicily, Mr. Provenzano was introduced to his wife of nearly 49 years, Margherita Biazzo. They wed in Vittoria in 1959.

Mr. Provenzano settled in South Beach in 1961 and became a union brick mason.

"He was often called upon to perform his skills on jobs that proved too difficult for others," said his sons, Robert and Eugene.

After retiring in the early 1980s, he built several homes in his South Beach neighborhood.

In his later years, his passion was spending time growing fruits and vegetables in his garden. He would often share its harvest among family and friends.

"He was a loving grandfather," said his daughter-in-law, Grace.

If he knew his grandsons, Dominic and Matthew, wanted a new bike or game, it was there the next day, she said.

Mr. Provenzano was a parishioner of Holy Rosary R.C. Church, South Beach.

In addition to his wife, Margherita; his two sons, Robert and Eugene, and his two grandsons, surviving are two sisters, Franca and Tina Provenzano.

The funeral will be tomorrow from the A. Azzara Funeral Home, South Beach, with a mass at 9:30 a.m. in Holy Rosary Church. Entombment will follow in Woodbridge (N.J.) Memorial Gardens.