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Page 354: Joseph P. Faiella
The Montclair Times • Thursday, March 7, 2022
Joseph Paterno (Pat) Faiella, 87, of Hudson, Fla., formerly of Montclair, died on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at Windsor Woods Rehabilitation Center, Hudson.
Mr. Faiella was born and raised in Washington Heights, N.Y. He graduated from The Barnard School for Boys and Manhattan College, where he was a member of Alpha Sigma Beta fraternity and was the copy editor of the Quadrangle.
Mr. Faiella lived in Montclair for 20 years and moved to Florida after retiring from Quality Weeklies, a newspaper advertising agency, where he was general manager. Prior to that he worked on The New York Herald Tribune and the New York Sun. He was a member of the New Jersey Press Association.
He had a lifelong interest in magic and was friendly with many of the performers of the early part of the 20th Century.
Writing was another lifelong hobby of Mr. Faiella. He was a frequent contributor to local publications and started newsletters in several places where he lived.
Mr. Faiella is survived by his wife, Eleanor Rogers; three daughters, Toni Small, Cheryl Kenney, and Mary Turkus; four sons, Frank Faiella, Paul Fernandez, James Fernandez, and Joseph Faiella; 18 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
A funeral service was held on Saturday, March 2, at Prevatt Funeral Home, Hudson, Fla..
Page 355: Eulogy of Joseph Paterno Faiella
My grandpa’s hands could palm a coin, spin a fork, cut a deck of cards, build a kite, or gesture with a story recalled from decades past to be heard and live on for generations in the future. He told stories of his childhood, when he dropped a nonexistent nickel in the pickle barrel or ran away from camp until his brother got tired, and they decided to turn back. He told us about growing up surrounded by family, and watching his neighbor burn down his house with a chemistry set. And he told us about discovering New York’s magic shops, and how frequent visits turned into a lifelong interest, getting locked in a trunk during a trick (leading to claustrophobia), and crushing an egg in his pocket during a show, and card tricks with Grandma, the secrets of which he never told. Later in life, he experienced the radio story of alien invasion, renting out basement space for ice storage, losing his cufflinks at the Castle, winning a ring playing craps, and experiences posing as a doctor. Working as a newspaperman, he expressed himself through writing, and he worried along with his coworkers that ‘The Sun’ was for sale, with the relief of hearing that is was, for five cents on every news stand in New York. He had stories of vacation, like playing football in the lot next to the beach, sailing or cruising to Istanbul. Even as he grew older he lived strong for family and showed defiance such as walking alongside his wheelchair on a trip to Nashville, or backing his car out of a driveway he could not see. He had the class to wake up houseguests with Frank Sinatra music, which gradually got louder as time passed, until the family was up and beginning the first of many courses at breakfast. Grandpa’s stories helped define a life, and his hands were as complex as his tales. While his hands go with him, he can still touch us, as long as we remember.
Justin Paterno Turkus • March 2, 2002
