Peter Francis Nepi

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Peter Francis Nepi, age 97, on Friday, August 19, 2016, at Brookdale Palmer Ranch, Sarasota, Florida. He died peacefully of natural causes. Peter was a decorated WWII combat veteran (including a Purple Heart) and Staff Sergeant in the 393rd Regiment, 99th Infantry Division, Third Army, European Theatre. He was called back for several years of active duty during the Korean Conflict as an Artillery Officer. He subsequently was a Battery Commander with the 707th Anti-Aircraft Gun Battalion, and then with the 3rd Missile Battalion, 166th Artillery (Nike-Ajax), Pennsylvania National Guard. He retired as a Major in the Army Reserves. His civilian career started as a shipbuilding electrician and subsequently a ship engineering draftsman at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. He retired from the civil service as an Electronics Engineering Planning and Operations Manager with the Naval Sea Systems Command (Washington, DC). He graduated from Our Lady of Angels Roman Catholic Elementary School (Latin Mass Altar Boy), West Catholic High School for Boys, Edward W. Bok Technical School, attended St. Joseph's College, and graduated from, and was an instructor at, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Peter was fluent in the Italian language and was considered the family historian. Peter was born with an effervescent and gregarious personality on Kershaw Street, West Philadelphia, and subsequently relocated to Broomall (PA), Annandale (VA), Ocean City (MD), Delray Beach (FL), and Sarasota (FL). While activated with the Army for the Korean Conflict, Peter and his family lived in Savannah and Augusta (GA). At the urging of the Catholic Relief Services, he joined the Boy Scouts of America and eventually attained the rank of Life Scout, and, at age 18, he became an Assistant Scoutmaster in Troop 112 at a West Philadelphia Lutheran Church. His father died in Philadelphia during the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918, six months before Peter's birth, and so Peter's very first positive adult male role model was arguably Scoutmaster Elias "Bonny" Borden. He is survived by his loving wife of 74 years (wed on November 22, 1941), Marie (Mary) Dolores (Roccia) Nepi, and four adoring sons and daughters-in-law: Thomas and Barbara (Cimino); Michael and Dale (Mancinelli); Stephen and the late Dorrel (Edstrand); and, Mark and Suzanne (Connors), five doting grandchildren: Dawn Nepi (Bergen); Sandra Nepi (Cole Arntzen); and, Lisa, Mary and Peter Nepi; three loving great grandchildren: Matthew Bailey; and, Megan and Elizabeth Arntzen, two sisters-in-law: Florence Mariano and Dolores DeCicco, and innumerable fond nephews and nieces mostly in Florida and the U.S. Northeast Corridor, and cherished cousins in the Le Marche Region of Italy. Peter is proceeded in death by his Italian-born parents, Pietro and Assunta (Bachetti) Nepi. He is also proceeded in death by his siblings Alberto, Albert (Elizabeth Kramer), Josephine (Michael Kizeik), and Maria, and a half-brother and a half-sister Anthony (Lydia McKeon) and Rose Cacciatori (Vaughn Peterson) respectively. Peter mostly enjoyed being with, and supporting, his immediate family (the kids) and his extended Nepi-Roccia families. He was also known for his spontaneous singing and jesting, mentoring the young, sipping vino da tavola, mangiare gnocchi marinara, voracious reading, watching CNN and classic movies and musicals, supporting the Scouting program, domestic and international traveling, and professional football (Go Redskins!). He performed for many years as a tenor in annual community variety show fundraisers in support of the Manoa Youth Athletic Association and the Catholic Youth Organization at St. Anastasia Catholic Church (Philadelphia suburbs). Peter was a member of various Barbershop harmony groups and tuxedoed university-sponsored men's chorales in the Delray Beach area, FL. He is the past President of the Ponte Vista Homeowners Association in Ocean City, MD, and the Pine Ridge Homeowners Association in Delray Beach, FL, and a former Boy Scout Explorer Post Advisor, and was on the Chain Crew for W. T. Woodson High School Football games in Fairfax (VA). A private burial will transpire at the Sarasota National Cemetery at a date and time in the future. Accordingly, all expressions of sympathy can best be accomplished by dedicating a service at your local house of worship in the name of Peter Francis Nepi. May Gold bless and hold tight our lovable and jovial Peter Francis Nepi. Sempre amato. Fino a tardi. "Anybody that doesn't like this life is nuts!" Peter F. Nepi (a.k.a. Ole Buck and Big Moose)

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Peter Francis Nepi

August 19, 2016