Name: Mario Palumbo Life Dates: 9/8/1933 - 2/28/2012 City Of Birth: Benevento, Italy Pre-deceased by Predeceased by his loving wife, Grace Palumbo. History Greece: February 28, 2012 at age 78. Passed away peacefully with his family at his side. He is survived by his children, Carla M. Palumbo, Thomas M. Palumbo and his partner Elizabeth Keller; grand-goddaughter, Sharon C. Pizzola; one sister in Italy, Iolanda Galasso; sister in-laws, Anamaria Palumbo Ida Palumbo; many nieces nephews. Donations In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Unity Hospital ICU/Unity Health Foundation, 1555 Long Pond Rd., Rochester, NY 14626 or The Legal Aid Society of Rochester 1 West Main St. Suite 800 Rochester, NY 14614 in Mario's Memory. Services Mario's visitation will be Friday 4-8 PM at the funeral home, 1411 Vintage Lane (between Rte. 390 Long Pond Rd). His Funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday 10:30 AM at Sacred Heart Cathedral Church, 287 Flower City Park. Interment in Holy Ghost Cemetery. Additional Information Mario was born on September 8, 1933 in Benevento Italy. He was surrounded by his parents and 5 brothers and sisters, Antonio, Ida, Iolanda, Lucia, and Pietro and predeceased by a brother Ludivico. He left Italy at the age of 18 to find his fortune and immigrated to Brazil. Mario spent 4 years in Brazil. In 1956 he met his wife Grace who was in Brazil visiting her family, who also happened to be friends with Mario. After a 2 month whirlwind story book romance, they married and Mario came to America. Once in the US he learned to speak English reading children's books to Carla and Tom and watching cartoons. To this day he continued to love cartoons. He learned his trade as an electrician and worked for a number of years as an electrician until he became determined to build homes. He started small but eventually grew to be one of the most important custom home builders in the Westside, being the first to bring the construction of custom built homes to Greece. Mario had an eye for style and design and knew how to work with people to build the home of their dreams. After he closed the home building business he worked until just recently as a real estate broker specializing in new home sales. Mario was a patient realtor whether listing your home or finding you the right home. Mario always had time for peoples concerns or questions and was always there to lend a hand. He held great value in his friends, old and new. Mario built not only houses, but anything else that needed building, from dog houses to the Christmas Crèche he loved to work with his hands and loved to learn new skills. He was a great cook and mastered all of his mother's recipes - panetone, friselle, prosciutto, salami and the one thing he was most famous for, his wine. Mario's wine was known far and wide and was one of his most enjoyable creations. He proudly received recognition for two of his wines at the NYS Fair. Mario was a devoted husband, Father, brother and friend and will be missed. He was a brave and strong man, who loved to laugh and loved people and he will be sorely missed. Mario's family wishes to extent our thanks to the gentle caregivers of Unity Hospital ICU and the kindness that was extended to us during this difficult time.