Neal Crescenzo, 92, craftsman and hospital plumber

Oct. 15, 1920 July 28, 2013

Neal Crescenzo, a longtime plumber at Buffalo General Hospital, died last Sunday in Williamsville Suburban Nursing Home. He was 92.

Born in Buffalo, Mr. Crescenzo attended School 50 and, as a young adult, worked at Westinghouse in Cheektowaga.

During the 1960s, he worked for a short time at Boeing in California. After returning to Buffalo, he went to work as a plumber at Buffalo General Hospital in 1975 and retired there after 29 years in 2004.

During his working years, Mr. Crescenzo was a member of Operating Engineers Local 17 in Lake View, and was associated with Laborers Local 210 in Buffalo.

Though never formally educated in the building trades, he became a highly skilled craftsman who regularly worked on houses on the East Side during the 1940s and 1950s, to earn money in addition to his regular job.

Mr. Crescenzo was known as Uncle Neal for his fatherly relationship to the Dobbins family, the 12 children of his youngest sister, Maria. He was known for introducing children in the neighborhood to pizza and other Italian delights, and gave odd jobs to many unemployed men and teenagers while working on homes on the East Side.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Monday in SS. Columba-Brigid Catholic Church, 418 N. Division St.

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Neal Crescenzo, 92, craftsman and hospital plumber