SALVATORE "SAL" BASILE

Sal Basile, 89, Port Orange, died peacefully at his home Saturday, February 2, 2013, with his family by his side. He was born November 15, 1923 in Brooklyn, New York, the sixth of nine children born to Pasquale and Nunziata Basile. A first generation American, he graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1942 and enlisted in the United States Navy. He was a combat veteran of World War ll, serving as an electrician's mate first class and gunner on the attack submarine U.S.S. Ray (SS271) for three years in the Pacific Theater. After his discharge in 1946, he studied electrical engineering at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and met his future wife Marjorie. They married in 1948 and both were employed by Kings Park State Hospital, Long Island, New York. A son, Michael, was born in 1951 and a daughter, Sharon, in 1953. In 1957, he moved his family to Florida, first to St. Petersburg where he worked for Florida Power and Light and then to Daytona Beach in early 1958. He started a career as a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service and another daughter, Susan, was born in 1962. He retired from the Postal Service in 1984. An athlete all his life, he was a skilled handball and racquetball player and enjoyed weight lifting and working out. He was an accomplished craftsman and electrician and an especially gifted woodworker, building furniture and clocks. He was a baseball fan, first of the Brooklyn Dodgers and later of the Atlanta Braves. He also enjoyed reading, puzzles and following politics. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Marjorie; his son, Michael, Port Orange, and life partner Patricia Hull; his daughter, Sharon, Jacksonville, and life partner Robert Beers; and a brother, Nat, Chatham, New Jersey. He was predeceased by his daughter, Susan. The family would like to acknowledge the services of his devoted caregiver Angie Irizarry and of Halifax Health - Hospice of Volusia/Flagler. In lieu of any other remembrance, the family suggests donations in Sal's name to Halifax Health - Hospice of Volusia/Flagler, 3800 Woodbriar Trail, Port Orange, FL 32129. Sal will be greatly missed by his family and forever remembered as a devoted and loving husband and father, a patriot and upstanding citizen, and a helpful and giving neighbor. He was a proud, decent and hard working man who never asked for anything and never took something he didn't earn. He was a member of, and truly exemplified, America's Greatest Generation.