The reader spots the age – 100 years – first; then the biography of this amazing man, as related in his obituary (here). Immigrant at 13, Air Force in WW II, college at night to become engineer, 30-year career building spacecraft.
Dario Antonucci, 100, passed away on Friday, October 25, in Knoxville. He was born on March 9, 1924, in a mud brick farm house without running water or electricity in Calabria, Italy. His mother died when he was 10, and his father moved him and his sister to New York in 1937, a few weeks shy of his 13th birthday.
Knowing no English, he was placed in the 4th grade and five years later graduated from high school. One week after graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Dario loved his adopted country and served as a sergeant in the 54th Fighter Patrol Squadron. He was a radio operator/mechanic and trained aircraft controller. He was stationed in the jungles of Burma guiding fighter planes, bombers and cargo planes of the “Hump” (the Himalayan Mountains) in the fight against the Japanese. He also served as a radio operator onboard the planes themselves.
Returning to the U.S. in February 1946, he found a long waiting list for full-time college. Undeterred, he attended college at night while raising a family and working in research labs during the day. After 13 years of night school, he earned a degree in electrical engineering from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. He spent the next 30 years as an aerospace engineer working for various companies including the lunar module vehicle that landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface.
The obituary continues: “Dario believed in hard work. He was an avid gardener, opera buff, dog lover and devoted family man. He was a member of Saint John Neumann Catholic Church and active member of the Civitan Club.”
His beloved wife of 68 years, Annette Antonucci, died in 2019. He is survived by his three children, Richard Antonucci (Mary), Rosemary Calvert (Mark), and Daria Antonucci (Larry Travis); eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
Family will receive friends on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, from 3:30-5 p.m. at Click Funeral Home, Farragut Chapel, 11915 Kingston Pike, Knoxville. Service will begin at 5 p.m. and a rosary service will be held after.
