August Joseph Scimeca

AUGUST JOSEPH SCIMECA (1943 – 2024)
AUGUST JOSEPH SCIMECA, beloved husband, brother, father, uncle, grandfather, great-grandfather, cousin, and friend, passed into eternity to be with Jesus on Friday, August 9, 2024. He was 80 years old and died at home with family in Saint Cloud, Florida. "Joe" was born in Buffalo, New York in 1943, the youngest of four children of Joseph and Fanny Scimeca. Raised by his parents and his three sisters, Joe was a creative artist and tinkerer as a child. His love of cars began with a toy car his father motorized so that he could drive it. Joe took on the profession of his dad as an automobile mechanic, working beside him in his shop from a young age. He graduated from Sweet Home High School in 1961 and married Sally Ann, his high school sweetheart, in 1962.
Joe never met a stranger that did not quickly become a friend. He always went out of his way to make people feel welcome and included, whether it was a customer, a waitress, a fellow camper, a neighbor, or a homeless person on the street. And what a great friend he was, generous, always helping people, often with their cars for free, sometimes in the middle of nowhere, at night, and amidst a blizzard. Joe was a get-it-done kind of guy, a true entrepreneur in business and in life. Hustling to be the best at Firestone and winning a trip to Spain for Sally and him for his efforts, building his own garage, starting Joe's Mobile Tune (servicing you at your doorstep), fixing just about anything for anyone, moving to Texas to start an insulation business and then back to Buffalo to start over with TNT Auto Repair, and moving to Florida and starting TNT Lawn Care, Joe fearlessly made things happen to help his family, friends, and many strangers along the way. Whatever Joe did, he did well and with all of his heart. Whether working long hours in drafty garages in Buffalo winters to provide for his family, helping the fatherless, caring for Sally during her health crises, cutting lawns in sweltering Florida summers, teaching grandchildren how to do things, waging a squirt gun war on his offspring, savoring with family and friends a delicious Italian dinner of spaghetti and meatballs followed by fudgsicles for dessert, or sharing his faith and trust in Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior, Joe was always all in, building a beautiful legacy of love for God and others.
Joe is survived by his wife of over 61 years Sally Ann Scimeca (ne Toerpe), sister-in-law Carol Toerpe, brother-in-law Kenneth Matheis, sister-in-law Julie Toerpe, three sons and two daughters-in-law: Donald Michael Scimeca, Mark David and Karen Anne Scimeca, and Todd Joseph and Lisa Petra Scimeca, four nephews who were like sons to him and their wives: John and Holly SantaLucia, Peter and Miriam SantaLucia, Michael and Kelly SantaLucia, and Nicholas and Edna SantaLucia, nieces Deborah Halberstam and Jeanine Kuflik, sixteen grandchildren and their spouses: Jesse Aaron and Brittany Scimeca, Samuel Todd and Rachael Scimeca, Joshua Brian and Jessica Scimeca, Kristen Emily and Luke Minks, Melody Joy and Ezekiel Baronian, Laura Beth and Christian Belmont, Sarah Joelle Scimeca, Luke Elias Scimeca and his fiancée Hannah McGlinchey, Aiden Joel Scimeca, Boaz Abraham Scimeca, Jubilee Jalene Scimeca, Gracie Marie Scimeca, Jonathan Alifal Scimeca, Jeremiah Aledelbagil Scimeca, Josiah Alemu Mark Scimeca, and Lilly Beth Scimeca, four great-grandchildren: Oliver Layne Scimeca, River Rae Scimeca, August Paul Scimeca, and Sophia Elise Belmont, and many cousins and dear friends. Joe was predeceased by his sisters and their husbands: Teresa Ann and Gus Totaro, Rose S. and Martin Kuflik, and Virginia Crissy, his sister-in-law Sandra Rae Matheis, and his brothers-in-law: Lloyd Raymond Toerpe and Dennis P. Toerpe.
A worship service of thanksgiving for the life of Joe will be held at Grace Community Church, 5501 East Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway, Saint Cloud, Florida 34771 on September 14, 2024, at 3:00 pm.