JOSEPH C. ADELIZZI SR.

JANUARY 5, 1930 - MARCH 30, 2026

Joseph Adelizzi was the beloved husband of the late Geraldine (Lanzalone) Adelizzi, devoted father of the late Deborah (Stephen) Kovacik, and Joseph (Constance) Adelizzi, Jr.  He was predeceased by one of his grandchildren (Gregory), and is survived by three loving grandchildren (Karin, Kristin, and Jeffrey), and 11 great-grandchildren (Tiara, Hailey, Emily, Lola, Samantha, Graham, Kellen, Lily, Shawn, Natalie, and Benjamin).

There's not much we can say about Dad's childhood years, mainly because he repeatedly claimed never to have been young.  As a kid, he "never played games," and as he recalled, he just shuffled back and forth between school and home until he graduated.  He did like to tell of the one day when he did not go directly home from school but instead stopped in at the phone company and ordered a phone for his family, who, up until that point, had to use the phone of a very generous and patient neighbor.

Right out of high school, Dad got a job at Pillsbury.  He worked there a while but eventually left for a better opportunity with the Pennsylvania Railroad.  He hadn't been there too long when a nationwide strike of some sort forced the railroad to make cutbacks.  He was let go and returned to Pillsbury.

Dad enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard and was subsequently inducted into active military service of the United States.  He was stationed in Europe with the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict, and always reflected fondly on his service time, recalling good friends and fabulous places.  High on his list of favorite places was Stuttgart, which he never failed to mention whenever anyone said "Germany" in his presence.

Upon returning home, Dad was rehired by the railroad.  He remained employed there for over 38 years, and never tired of telling us how he rode the "el" into Center City for 34 of those years.  "No air conditioning!"

He married the love of his life, Geraldine, on June 5, 1954.  They shared 52 happy and loving years until Geraldine passed away in 2006. They devotedly raised their aforementioned two children, blessing each with many and varied opportunities and experiences.

Before peripheral neuropathy, sciatica, and other ailments limited his abilities, Dad enjoyed traveling with Mom as well as friends and neighbors.  The two of them even went to a "Dude Ranch," but the aforementioned kids didn't want that information spread too widely.  Kids.

Dad always enjoyed bowling, even passing that fondness on to his children.  Father and children passed many a Saturday or Sunday morning at the lanes with Dad yelling "SECOND ARROW!" for reasons only he understood at the time.  His other hobbies included pinochle, crosswords, cryptograms, jumbles, and bingo.  At one point, he enjoyed calling the numbers out at bingo, taking pride in the jokes he'd make about the different bingo numbers because "you got to make it fun."  He gave up calling numbers when pushing the big number board back into storage after the games became too difficult.

And, of course, Dad loved Phillie baseball.  He wasn't a fan at first, knowing but one player's name, and that player wasn't even a Phillie. He'd walk into the living room, see the game on TV, and say, "Who's that, Johnny Bench?"  It wasn't.  To Dad's credit, when Mom took a keen interest in the game, he decided to learn more about it.  Soon he was hooked, and remained so through his final days, never relinquishing his then-annoying, now-endearing, habit of predicting doom and gloom outcomes with every pitch.

Finally, Dad enjoyed his friends, old and new.  Whether it was sitting in the community restaurant with new friends or visiting with long-time friends, he always enjoyed laugh-filled get-togethers of all kinds.  And once you were his friend, he was going to worry about you… and probably buy you a hot dog.

Speaking of buying hot dogs, the family kindly requests that, instead of flowers, donations be made in Dad's honor to either Philabundance https://secure.philabundance.org/ or the World Central Kitchen www.wck.org.

Dad's life will be remembered and celebrated on Saturday, April 11, 2026, in Saint Timothy's Roman Catholic Church at 3001 Levick Street, Philadelphia, PA 19149 beginning at 9:30 AM followed by a mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 AM.  He will be entombed at Sunset Memorial Park at 333 County Line Road, Lower Southampton Township, PA.