William A. Toscano

06-10-1916 to 10-26-2002

Eulogy delivered by our eldest sibling, William A. Toscano, jr

Babbo Addio

 On behalf of my mother, brothers and sisters I thank you for being here,  we are also grateful to our uncle Jim his wife Mary and aunt Norma Jean for coming such a long distance to memorialize our father.  Guido Emilio Toscano was born on June 10, 1916 to Francesco and Vittoria Toscano, the second of eight children.  When he entered school, his zia Maria Anglicized his name to William, and later he adopted his confirmation name, Agostino, as his middle name.

He lived through times of momentous change in this country.  The Great depression, the Second World War, the Atomic Age, Cold War, and the electronic age.  In 1944, he married Margaret McNamara.  They had 7 children, 13 grand children, and 3 great grand children—he was making sure that there would be many mourners available.  Our father was a hard-working man, who was employed as a machinist at the Alcoa factory in New Kensington, Pennsylvania.  He was a humble, but not a simple man.  He had a generous heart and a passion for doing the right thing.  Our father had a strong sense of civic responsibility—he often wrote letters to the editor – embarrassing to his children, who were often doing the things against which he was writing.  He was a regular attendee at City Council meetings to make his view known on important issues.

He worked very hard in the affairs of Local 302 of the United Steelworkers Union, where he served in several offices, including president.  One of his proudest accomplishments occurred when he revised the constitution of the local union.  He took on the national union and the company simultaneously to defend one of his fellow workers.  It was rare in those days to have both the company and union angry with you, but our father was able to accomplish this because he never backed down from an issue which about he felt strongly.

He liked music and always had a song in his heart—which he shared with the entire neighborhood on his accordion.

Our father had an intense interest in the environment.  He often called ALCOA to task for emitting what he perceived to be toxic gasses so thick that we could not see across the street.  He loved camping and traveling during his twenty-odd year retirement.  He lived a long, full life.  With his passing, another link to the past disappears, but  he will not be forgotten by those who knew, loved and respected him.  I am reminded of the final scene in Aida, which goes something like this: O terra addio, addio valle di pianti. ---Babbo Addio. 

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Translation: Farewell to earth and this Vale of tears -- Farewell daddy