GERARD ALTIERI February 15, 1929 – December 28, 2018 Share this obituary Send Flowers Sign Guestbook| Send Private Condolences| Send Sympathy Card Gerard Nicholas Altieri, (89) Bay Village and Palm Island, Placida Florida What a life! Dad’s was exciting, filled with risk taking, adventure, and blessedly long. He never did a single thing he didn’t want to do.
And he did it all: bigger than life, with head held high, his back ramrod straight and his eyes trained on his goals. Nothing deterred his ambitions. Building his dream home on Palm Island at the age of 78, as a pioneer in the mail-order pharmaceutical management industry, cooking and entertaining his guests with abundance and flair, jumping from planes with the 82nd Airborne Division, or simply explaining life to his children and his seventeen grandchildren; he never held back.
Dad mirrored how to be gracious, even in defeat, because he explained, without failure great success would remain elusive. He counseled to embrace the “no” because it got you closer to the “yes’’. Having said that, he was just a wee bit competitive and may have passed that on to his kids and grandkids.
He taught us to be kind and generous, that nothing trumps family, how to take care of each other, how to be fearless in the face of fear, how to tell a story and how to laugh…a lot. Dad had much in his life to be proud of but he saw his five children as his most important contribution to this world. He never tired of our company or cheering us on in every endeavor; be it on the football field or horseback, the cross country course or ice rink, the boardroom or classroom, the kitchen or bocce court, or watching his sons wrestle a bear.
He was our greatest fan, consigliere, and mentor. Dad’s legacy lives through his children Mark (Deborah), Brett deceased (Susan), Dani (Joe Marinucci), Matt (Bonnie) and Luke (Keri) and his grandchildren Bryan (Kristin), Lauren (Mark Campbell), Matt (Laura), Mark, Richard, Chloe, Dante, Antonia (Jeff Green), Lucia (Matthew Kennedy), Vincenzo, Daniel, Faith (Jordan LaBatte ), Paige (fiancee Trevor Roosien), Park, Megan, Tim, and Grace and his great grandchildren Brett, Eric, Everett, James, Wesley, Lorenzo and Angelo. Dad is reunited with his beloved son, Brett, and his one true love and mother of his children, Bess.
He left this world peacefully and with his children at his side. He will be desperately missed. We salute the Bay Village O’Neill Healthcare staff, who cared for our father as if he was their own.
He loved ‘his girls’ as if they were his own. The peace-of-mind and tenderness received from his caregivers was a gift that cannot be repaid. Private, immediate family, services are planned.
To leave a message for the family online, visit www. BerryMcGreevey.com Berry-McGreevey & Donald Martens and Sons Funeral Home and Cremation Service 26691 Detroit Rd.
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