Pasquale Calabria, longtime Bethpage resident, Grumman mechanic, dies at 93

Pasquale "Pat" Calabria Jr. was a meticulous man, according to his family. His motto was, "If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing right." Whether that was working on the Lunar Excursion Module, rescuing an injured girl during a blizzard, or simply working hard to provide for his family, everything in Calabria's life was done with intention.

“My dad excelled at everything he did — he was just one of those people who was a natural at everything,” said his son Patrick Calabria, 72, of Seaford.

Pasquale Calabria, 93, died of natural causes on Sept. 8 at his retirement home in New Port Richey, Florida.

Born in Brooklyn, Calabria attended East New York Vocational and Technical High School. He enlisted in the Navy in 1948 at age 18 and served as a metalsmith from 1948 to 1952, including during the Korean War. He was discharged as a petty officer third class.

Calabria met his wife, Dorothy, 93, at a St. Fortunato's Italian feast in Brooklyn when they were in their late teens.

"It was a rainy day and she stepped in a puddle. My father noticed her shoes were wet, and when he ran into her later, he asked if her shoes ever dried. They got to talking and made a date," said his son.

Calabria and his wife eloped in March 1951 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, while he was in the Navy. Their 72-year marriage produced three children: Patrick, 72; a daughter, Maureen Miracolo, 65, of Port Richey, Florida; and another son, the Rev. Michael Calabria, 62, a Franciscan friar at St. Bonaventure University.

Shortly after his discharge from the Navy, Calabria moved to Bethpage in 1953 with his wife and 1-year-old son after landing a job with Grumman Aircraft (now Northrop Grumman) as a flight mechanic.

"He became so adept at what he was doing at Grumman that the company sent him to school to learn how to read blueprints," Patrick Calabria said of his father, who would often suggest design modifications when Grumman engineers were stumped. “My dad had little formal education, but he always knew what would work and what wouldn’t."

Pasquale Calabria quickly advanced to chief mechanic and supervised his own crew to travel across the country to service Gulfstream jets purchased from Grumman.

"Dad worked on the Lunar Excursion Module, which transported astronauts across the moon in the first lunar landing in 1969, as well as the famed E-2 Hawkeye radar plane," Patrick Calabria said of his father, who also installed the nose wheel guard on F-14 fighter jets manufactured by Grumman for the Navy.

Pasquale Calabria also volunteered with the Bethpage Fire Department from 1959 to 1985, rising to the rank of deputy chief.

"Dad was renowned within the family for carrying an injured young girl more than a mile to Mid-Island Hospital [now St. Joseph Hospital] during a blizzard in the early 1960s that was so fierce even the fire trucks couldn't get through," said Patrick Calabria.

After 35 years in Bethpage, Pasquale Calabria retired in summer 1998 and moved to Florida in the fall of that year. An accomplished carpenter, he made furniture and toys for his grandchildren, including cradles and wooden horses. He was an avid sports fan who enjoyed watching the New York Islanders, but baseball was his favorite.

"He coached Little League and always made time to have a catch in the yard with me," said Patrick Calabria. "Dad was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan and enjoyed going to games at Ebbets Field back in the day, and then later, watching MLB spring training near his home in Florida."

Maureen Miracolo recalled her father's love of fishing and the good times they had on his 17-foot boat.

“Remembering my dad, I think of all the memories we shared boating and fishing in the Great South Bay," she said. "We’d barbecue and play softball on Fox Island there and dig for clams.”

In addition his wife and children, Pasquale Calabria is survived by grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A private cremation and burial is planned.