Salvatore Petrecca

Salvatore Petrecca

1939–2025

Salvatore Petrecca, born in Castelpetroso, Molise, Italy, on 3 November 1939, passed away peacefully on 13 November 2025, surrounded by family.

Salvatore was the youngest of four children — Domenico, Rosina, and Alberto came before him — born to Antonietta (née Valentino) and Nicola Petrecca. When he emigrated to America in 1956, it was not just for opportunity, but to support his parents back in Italy. He worked, saved, and sent money home, helping sustain the family who had shaped his early life. That sense of duty never left him — for Salvatore, family was not an idea, it was a responsibility carried with pride.

Born into a family of builders and craftsmen, Salvatore learned his trade in the small shops of his village, where his father and brothers taught him to fix anything placed in his hands. In 1956 he came to the United States, carrying little more than his skill, courage, and the work ethic that would define his life.

He married Maria (née DeFilippis), and together they raised three children: Robert, Anthony, and Rosemarie.

He later married Vicky Tapia, who remained by his side through his final years.

Salvatore was a master builder in every sense—a man who could lift a house with a crane, rebuild its foundation, weld steam pipes, assemble complex boilers without looking at the prints, and still greet everyone he met with a smile. He ran construction projects across New York City, renovated historic buildings, and spent decades building medical offices on the Upper East Side. His hands shaped more of the city than he ever spoke about.

In his seventies, he reinvented himself again as a restauranteur, opening Primo’s Pizzeria in Lakeland, Florida, where he greeted customers with the same warmth and pride he once brought to construction sites. He poured the same joy, precision, and hospitality into the food and the room as he had into every beam and boiler before it.

To his children, he passed down not only his skill, but his courage—his rule for life: never be afraid to take risks or try something new.

Salvatore is survived by his children Robert, Anthony, and Rosemarie; his daughter-in-law Diana; his step-daughter Josephine; and his grandchildren Michael, MarcAnthony, Alex, and Ryan. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Maria.

Visitation will be held on Friday, 21 November 2025, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., at Frank Patti Funeral Home, 327 Main Street, Fort Lee, New Jersey. A final visitation will take place on Saturday, 22 November 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at Frank Patti Funeral Home, followed by a Funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m. at Madonna on the Hill Chapel in Fort Lee. Interment to follow immediately at Madonna Cemetery.

Salvatore worked with joy, lived with kindness, and met life with a strength few will ever match. Those who knew him will carry his example—and his stories—for the rest of their lives.