Anthony "Tony" DeCroce

Dear Valerie and family,

I am so sorry to learn of your Uncle Tony's passing last August. Thank you for sharing with me the details. We all share in the loss of this dear friend and special child of God.
I knew Tony through his life-long friendship with my brother Carl. They shared a common enthusiasm for the Arts and both had a facility to create things of lasting beauty. I admired Tony's positive can-do spirit and his love of life which he lived with great gusto filled with the joy of many friendships and with the respect and admiration of many students.
I know that Tony now rests in the arms of a loving and merciful Lord. He has a special place that God has prepared for him, a place of everlasting peace. We are called to be a light in the world. A candle of remembrance burns for Tony as a reminder for me of the light that Tony was in my life. I will carry that light with me as the legacy and the special blessing of his friendship.
Valerie, you and your extended family are in my prayers. God bless you.

I remember Mr. DeCroce very well from my days at the former Warren Harding elementary school in the Gates-Chili school district. He had the misfortune of replacing a popular teacher, Mrs. Pollman , who was killed in a car accident, but he brought in a new enthusiasm about art and introduced new ways of making the students appreciate the subject. In retrospect Mr. DeCroce was one of the teachers I most admired as he started me on a lifetime of appreciating art in all of its various forms. Rest in peace Mr. D!

I know he wanted to be with his parents and Vee and brothers, but how I will miss that dear man. I'll think of him, with love, each time I pass my neighbor's patio.