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Services
Friends may visit with the family from 4-8 PM on Thursday, February 26, 2015 at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne.
Funeral services will be held 10 AM on Friday, February 27, 2015 at the funeral home.
Interment will be in Laurel Grove Memorial Park, Totowa.
Emil Rizzo age 92 of Wayne, formerly of Fair Lawn, passed peacefully on Sunday, February 22, 2015.
He was born and raised in the family home at East 22nd Street in Paterson. He attended a local vocational school and learned to be a machinist. As a young man he and his brother Fred established their own business in the family garage and called it “Madison Machine Company.” As was the case with many young men at the time, World War II came calling and before he knew it Emil was serving with the 104th Infantry Division in the United States Army. He didn’t do well as a foot soldier as he had flat feet and was sent back to the States to serve as an M.P. While he was stationed at Fort Dix in New Jersey Italian prisoners of war were sent to Fort Dix for incarceration. One of the POW’s caught Emil’s eye and it turned out to be his cousin. Rules for the POW’s were somewhat relaxed even letting Emil bring his cousin home for dinner one weekend. He was honorably discharged at Fort Custer, Michigan on August 15, 1943.
When he was just fourteen years old he met the love of his life Harriet May Wanamaker. For many years they roller skated together. Just after his service in the Army during WWII they married on June 20, 1946. They honeymooned in Niagara Falls, New York and had a loving marriage of sixty-four years before her passing in June of 2011.
After the war Emil and his brother Fred again got their business running. Soon the name was updated to “Madison Sprocket and Gear.” For a time they had government contracts and were given blueprints as to what they were to build and what they would be paid to build it. Eventually they bought a building at 275 Goffle Road in Hawthorne from their friends the Thomas’. Their company was doing precision metal work manufacturing sprockets and gears for many different industries including baking equipment, automatic door openers, and conveyors to name a few. Emil was a perfectionist who loved working with his hands. He was happy to see his daughter Risa come in to the office so he could be out in the shop working with his hands. In 2010 he retired after a career of over 70 years.
One of Emil’s hobbies was playing the banjo and mandolin. He was a member of the Just a Bunch of Banjo’s and the Wayne Madolin Orchestra for many years. Many will remember him playing the banjo on Wednesday nights at Colucci’s Restaurant in Haledon with Uncle Floyd. For many years he would travel to New Orleans and just walk into Preservation Hall to play with some of the best Jazz and Dixieland musicians in the world. He also played for funerals there in New Orleans with his daughter walking along the street following the band with a small parasol in hand.
Another of his loves was boxing. While in the Army he boxed for a while and this created a lifelong love of the sport. He would often go to the Friday Night Fights at the Forum in New York City with his daughter Risa in tow. Always one to enjoy sports he had box seats to Shea Stadium for fifteen years, again with Risa by his side. Emil’s passion was golf. Being the perfectionist he was - he played to about a four handicap for the better part of 30 years. He was a member of the North Jersey Country Club in Wayne having joined in the 1950’s and retiring from golf in the 1980’s when an old wrist injury made it too difficult for him to play at a level acceptable to him. After golf he found great joy in a great deal of traveling, time at the Jersey Shore in Spring Lake, and tooling around in his Patio Boat on Lake Hopatcong where he purchased a home along the shoreline.
He will be remembered as a loving husband and father. He was a perfectionist who loved to have a good time, loved to laugh, enjoyed sharing his talent with the banjo and mandolin, all while trying to remain somewhat in the background. Although he would perform in front of many when he was done he wanted no recognition other than to see people enjoyed themselves.
He was the loving husband of the late Harriet May Rizzo (June 2011); devoted father of Risa Rizzo and her husband Jack Dunnigan of Wayne; cherished grandfather of Kyle John Dunnigan of Wayne; loved brother of Evelyn Puttenvink and her husband John of Oakland, and the late Mildred, Arthur, Fred, Evelyn, and Alice.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations to the Wayne First Aid Squad, PO Box 2004, Wayne, NJ 07474 or the Friends of Wayne Animals (FOWA), PO Box 3701, Wayne, NJ 07474 would be appreciated.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family from 4-8 PM on Thursday, February 26, 2015 at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne.
Funeral services will be held 10 AM on Friday, February 27, 2015 at the funeral home.
Interment will be in Laurel Grove Memorial Park, Totowa.
Services
Friends may visit with the family from 4-8 PM on Thursday, February 26, 2015 at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne.
Funeral services will be held 10 AM on Friday, February 27, 2015 at the funeral home.
Interment will be in Laurel Grove Memorial Park, Totowa.
Emil Rizzo age 92 of Wayne, formerly of Fair Lawn, passed peacefully on Sunday, February 22, 2015.
He was born and raised in the family home at East 22nd Street in Paterson. He attended a local vocational school and learned to be a machinist. As a young man he and his brother Fred established their own business in the family garage and called it “Madison Machine Company.” As was the case with many young men at the time, World War II came calling and before he knew it Emil was serving with the 104th Infantry Division in the United States Army. He didn’t do well as a foot soldier as he had flat feet and was sent back to the States to serve as an M.P. While he was stationed at Fort Dix in New Jersey Italian prisoners of war were sent to Fort Dix for incarceration. One of the POW’s caught Emil’s eye and it turned out to be his cousin. Rules for the POW’s were somewhat relaxed even letting Emil bring his cousin home for dinner one weekend. He was honorably discharged at Fort Custer, Michigan on August 15, 1943.
When he was just fourteen years old he met the love of his life Harriet May Wanamaker. For many years they roller skated together. Just after his service in the Army during WWII they married on June 20, 1946. They honeymooned in Niagara Falls, New York and had a loving marriage of sixty-four years before her passing in June of 2011.
After the war Emil and his brother Fred again got their business running. Soon the name was updated to “Madison Sprocket and Gear.” For a time they had government contracts and were given blueprints as to what they were to build and what they would be paid to build it. Eventually they bought a building at 275 Goffle Road in Hawthorne from their friends the Thomas’. Their company was doing precision metal work manufacturing sprockets and gears for many different industries including baking equipment, automatic door openers, and conveyors to name a few. Emil was a perfectionist who loved working with his hands. He was happy to see his daughter Risa come in to the office so he could be out in the shop working with his hands. In 2010 he retired after a career of over 70 years.
One of Emil’s hobbies was playing the banjo and mandolin. He was a member of the Just a Bunch of Banjo’s and the Wayne Madolin Orchestra for many years. Many will remember him playing the banjo on Wednesday nights at Colucci’s Restaurant in Haledon with Uncle Floyd. For many years he would travel to New Orleans and just walk into Preservation Hall to play with some of the best Jazz and Dixieland musicians in the world. He also played for funerals there in New Orleans with his daughter walking along the street following the band with a small parasol in hand.
Another of his loves was boxing. While in the Army he boxed for a while and this created a lifelong love of the sport. He would often go to the Friday Night Fights at the Forum in New York City with his daughter Risa in tow. Always one to enjoy sports he had box seats to Shea Stadium for fifteen years, again with Risa by his side. Emil’s passion was golf. Being the perfectionist he was - he played to about a four handicap for the better part of 30 years. He was a member of the North Jersey Country Club in Wayne having joined in the 1950’s and retiring from golf in the 1980’s when an old wrist injury made it too difficult for him to play at a level acceptable to him. After golf he found great joy in a great deal of traveling, time at the Jersey Shore in Spring Lake, and tooling around in his Patio Boat on Lake Hopatcong where he purchased a home along the shoreline.
He will be remembered as a loving husband and father. He was a perfectionist who loved to have a good time, loved to laugh, enjoyed sharing his talent with the banjo and mandolin, all while trying to remain somewhat in the background. Although he would perform in front of many when he was done he wanted no recognition other than to see people enjoyed themselves.
He was the loving husband of the late Harriet May Rizzo (June 2011); devoted father of Risa Rizzo and her husband Jack Dunnigan of Wayne; cherished grandfather of Kyle John Dunnigan of Wayne; loved brother of Evelyn Puttenvink and her husband John of Oakland, and the late Mildred, Arthur, Fred, Evelyn, and Alice.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations to the Wayne First Aid Squad, PO Box 2004, Wayne, NJ 07474 or the Friends of Wayne Animals (FOWA), PO Box 3701, Wayne, NJ 07474 would be appreciated.
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