1918-2013
Richard Joseph Lerro was born February 7, 1918, in Philadelphia. His early years were spent in an orphanage outside of town. His maternal grandmother, Justina Camarrotta Lerro, brought him into her family around age 6, and he grew up behind the counter of the family meat market at 1024 S. Ninth Street in the heart of Little Italy. He was surrounded by aunts and uncles who were just a few years older than him. He married Caroline Fusco in 1939 and had a son, Richard Joseph Lerro, Jr. two years later. In 1941 he joined the U.S. Navy and toured the Pacific, serving in the "Sea Bees" in the Philippines, Japan, and Attu, Alaska. He remained in the Navy Reserves into the 1950s. After the war, Caroline and Richard divorced and he moved to Texas where he met and married Myrtle Metcalf Gibson on April 11, 1956. Together, they moved to Dallas and had a son, Richard Marcus Lerro (b. 1958). Rick Lerro worked as a maintenance man for Standard Brands Foods and St. Regis Paper Company before retiring. Myrtle died in 2007. Rick Lerro died January 20, 2013, in Tyler, Texas, with family at his bedside.
Friday, January 25
Catholic Funeral Mass
St. Boniface Catholic Church
318 South Broad Street
Chandler, TX
Wake for Residents and Staff
Providence Park Rehabilitation Center
-Andrea Bocelli (Italian music!), signing memory books, refreshments. A friendly gathering around the piano.
Inurnment is scheduled later this year at Arlington National Cemetery.
It was a blessing to get to know a true American hero and his family if only for a short time. RIP and may God bless your family.
ReplyDeleteJason Farmer
I could tell he truly was a good man. He always knew how to make me laugh. Your family is one of the sweetest families I know. God bless y'all. Kelly Alvarado
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. He was fun, even when he was cranky. He used to break into Italian songs for no apparent reason - well into his 90s.
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