Henry W. "Herky" Fanelli
Born May 1st, 1927, Formerly of Pittsburgh, Pa. (East Liberty), McKees Rocks for many years, but retired in Bradenton, Florida.Passed away quietly in his sleep on December 11, 2015, in Bradenton Florida, with his loving bride of 4.5 years, Althea O’Sullivan at his side.Herky was the son of the late Henry A. Fanelli and the late Mary Iole Fanelli, who had maintained Fanelli’s Tailors on 5th Avenue for many years. Brother to both the late Frank James Fanelli, and late Joseph Anthony Fanelli. Brother Frank is survived by his wife Marie, known as aunt Re to many, and brother Joseph, is survived by his wife Pauline.The sons of Herky and the late Mary Ann Barton Fanelli are, Mark, Bruce, Craig, Drew and Neal, who live in the Pittsburgh area. Immediate family members reside in Pittsburgh, with grandchildren and great grandchildren residing in Pittsburgh and other areas of Washington, DC., Chicago IL., Boulder CO., Charlotte NC and Charleston SC.The grandchildren are: Brian (wife Heather and daughter Lauren), ( Mark and the late Antoinette Cononie Fanelli), Ryan ( Bruce and Suzanne Kelly Fanelli), Justin ( Craig and the late Betsy White Fanelli), and Katie ( Craig and Luann Teal Fanelli), Naomi ( Drew Fanelli), Lauren, Meghan, Danielle and Collin ( Neal and Amy Caraher Fanelli).Herky, was a long time resident of Pittsburgh, who attended Westinghouse High School and was outstanding in high school athletics. During his early years at Westinghouse, he held many 1st place finishes for most of the school competitions in athletic sports. He then joined the Bricklayers Union Local #9 as an apprentice at age 16 and worked for 47 years. During his family years, Herky enjoyed bowling, golfing, playing sports with his sons in the alley alongside the family residence in McKees Rocks. He took up painting in his spare time. Herky was driven to excel in everything to the best of his ability, whether it be family, work, bowling, golf, or building a pool in the back yard or painting. In April 1963, he bowled a sanctioned 300 game and competed in many ABC and Peterson Classic bowling events for many years. Herky also bowled with a travelling team, that often went to Chicago for tournament competitions. His high series was 723, and he maintained a bowling average of more than 210/game for many of the 15 years he participated. Upon his retirement at age 62, he started his small masonry business and continued to contract work until he was 80 years old. Some of his work product can be seen in facilities around Pittsburgh including projects known as Riverview Apartments, The Masonic Temple, The Masonic Village, and the original Westinghouse Brake Building in the Strip District, to name a few. Several of these projects were completed after he had mastered the installation of masonry and brick work with the use of only one hand, as he lost his left hand at age 75. To that end, he continued working for 5 more years, sometimes with and sometimes without the use of a prosthetic left hand. Not to be held back, he continued to play golf and typically scored in the high 40’s for 9 holes, always reminding us of his past skill sets. At times we needed to remind him that hitting a drive 180 yards in the fairway with only one hand was not too bad at age 80.In his later years he was able to spend much time with his brother Joseph and his new family thru his marriage to Althea O’Sullivan, who has 6 children of her own and many grandchildren, who just felt the love of Herky and enjoyed their company very much. Herky and Althea were well traveled and enjoyed their time together. Italy and China were several of the locations visited. The couple enjoyed their dancing with friends and most friends were over 75 years old, but none the less they got together weekly to dance and dine. One of their older dancing friends was 100 years old, who had the same birth date as Herky, so Herky was always referred to as junior. In his younger years, he was a low single digit handicap golfer but only played on weekends. Henry, known to many as Herky or Rico, will be deeply missed by all who came to know him and love him for his antics, charm and wit. His final resting place will be at Mt. Carmel Cemetery upon the return of his remains to Pittsburgh. Per his request a private mass and burial ceremony will be held in Pittsburgh for only family and close friends.