Rocco A. Piccinino | Business owner, 88

Rocco A. Piccinino, 88, of Holmes, a retired business owner and a former prizefighter, died of a heart attack Wednesday at his home.

Mr. Piccinino grew up in South Philadelphia. He worked as a paperhanger and a bakery deliveryman, and for two years he was a boxer in Philadelphia and New York. In 1938, he was the Philadelphia Daily News Silver Gloves featherweight champion.

During World War II, he served in the Army artillery in Europe and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. He was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart.

After his discharge, he worked in a bakery and then was a milkman for Abbott's Dairies for 10 years while helping his wife, Ida Minicozzi Piccinino, run a convenience store in Philadelphia. He worked seven days a week, their son, Rocco M., said.

For many years, Mr. Piccinino was a wholesale supplier to small groceries. He and his wife briefly ran a restaurant in Lester until they retired in 1981.

He enjoyed home improvement projects and trips to Atlantic City, and was a movie buff, his son said. He was active with the Schoolhouse Senior Center in Folsom.

In addition to his son, Mr. Piccinino is survived by a daughter, Delores Edwards; a brother; two sisters; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. His wife of 60 years died in 2003.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. today at Our Lady of Fatima Church, 1 Fatima Dr., Secane. Friends may call at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Fernwood Cemetery, Lansdowne.