Pitcher with NY Yankee organization; WWII veteran
Ed Petrazzolo passed away Wednesday morning, Nov. 20, 2019, at Sunrise Senior Living Staten Island. He died as he lived, in peace and with dignity. He was eight days shy of his ninety-fifth birthday.
"Eddie Pet" was born and raised in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn to Charles and Lillian Petrazzolo. He and his twin sister, Evelyn, were the youngest of eight children.
Although growing up during the Great Depression, his childhood years were joyous, active and fulfilling. It was during this time that the importance of family became firmly established with Ed and served as the hallmark of his life.
Ed signed a professional baseball contract with the New York Yankees after graduating from high school in 1942, as a left-handed pitcher.
One year later, he was drafted into the Army and served his country with distinction. Ed participated in the D-Day landing at Utah Beach, the liberation of France, the Battle of the Bulge and the liberation of the Nordhausen concentration camp.
In 2015, in recognition of his service, he was awarded the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur by the French minister of defense at a ceremony in New York City. Returning from the war, Ed continued his baseball career with the Yankees. He pitched his last game in 1947, for the Newark Bears, the Yankee AAA team.
Ed began a new career as a printer for the New York Journal-American newspaper, a career which lasted for 20 years. He was a proud member of the New York Typographical Union.
In 1960, Ed moved his young family from Brooklyn to Staten Island. When the Journal-American closed, Ed started another career in insurance sales, attending to the needs of his Dongan Hills neighbors and families.
For the past 60 years, Ed was a member of St. Ann's Parish. Ed was a longtime member of the Huttner-Pasqualini Post 1367 and the Battle of the Bulge Society. He also was a member of the Notre Club of Staten Island and the Staten Island Baseball Old Timers Association.
Ed was predeceased by his childhood sweetheart and wife, Mary (Courtney) Petrazzolo and a grandson, Mark.
He is survived by three children: his son, Ed and his wife, Anne, and daughters, Pam Jackson and her husband, Tom; Mary Tracy and her husband, Terry and grandchildren, Lisa, Tom, Courtney, Ted, TC, Maggie, Conor, Brandon, Jack and great-granddaughters, Valentina and Isabel.
Funeral services will be held at Casey Funeral Home, S.I., on Friday, Nov. 22 from 4 to 8 p.m. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Ann's Church, 101 Cromwell Ave., S.I., N.Y. 10304. Interment will follow at Moravian Cemetery.
Casey Funeral Home
350 Slosson Ave.
Staten Island, N.Y. 10314
(718) 447-4242
Published in Staten Island Advance on Nov. 21, 2019
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