28 JULY 26, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
OBITUARIES
Maspeth mourns George O'Neill, beloved restaurateur
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AUGUST NAWROT died on Tuesday,
July 17, at the age of 93. He was
the husband of the late Franciszka
Nawrot, loving father of Cecilia
Kielbiowski, Krystyna Lesniak,
Teresa Mucek, Zbigniew Nawrot
and the late Jozef Nawrot, cherished
grandfather of Darius, Kristopher,
Jakub, Anna, Peter, Paul, Urszula,
Ewa, Danielle, Magdalena, Rafal,
Krzysztof, Tomasz and Krzysztof
and dear brother of Aleksander
Nawrot, Jozef Nawrot and Franciszek
Nawrot. He was also the great-grandfather
of 15 great-grandchildren
and is also survived by many loving
nieces, nephews, great-nieces and
great-nephews. A Mass of Christian
Burial was off ered on Friday, July
20, at Holy Cross Church, Maspeth,
followed by interment at St. John
Cemetery, Middle Village, under the
direction of Papavero Funeral Home,
72-27 Grand Ave., Maspeth.
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ELISABETH BAUER of Ridgewood
died on Monday, July 16, at the
age of 93. A native of Scheundorf,
Romania, she was the wife of the late
Franz Bauer and devoted mother of
Hilda Horn, Elizabeth Fuchs, Erika
French, Frank Bauer, Theresa Roman
and their spouses. She is also
survived by 14 grandchildren and
20 great-grandchildren. A Mass
of Christian Burial was off ered at
St. Matthias Church, Ridgewood,
followed by interment at Holy Cross
Cemetery, Pennsburg, PA, under the
direction of Morton Funeral Home/
Ridgewood Chapels, 663 Grandview
Ave., Ridgewood.
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DRAGA KRSTIC of Ridgewood died
on Monday, July 16, at the age of 63. A
native of Seleus, Yugoslavia, she was
the wife of Radislav Krstic, devoted
mother of Luka Krstic and Maria
Todoran and dear sister of Jon Markovican.
Services were off ered at Morton
Funeral Home/Ridgewood Chapels,
663 Grandview Ave., Ridgewood, by
Reverend Dimitri Musta, followed
by interment at Linden Hill Cemetery,
Ridgewood.
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ANNA P. STASZCZAK of Ridgewood
died on Monday, July 16, at the
age of 72. A native of Zdunska Wola,
Poland, she was the devoted mother of
Anna Staszczak-Wojtas. Services were
off ered at Morton Funeral Home/Ridgewood
Chapels, 663 Grandview Ave.,
Ridgewood, followed by cremation at
Fresh Pond Crematory, Middle Village.
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LUIS O. VICTORIA died on Monday,
July 16, at the age of 55. He was
the beloved husband of Roxanna
Victoria, loving father of Melodia,
Rebecca and Isabella, cherished
grandfather of Jayson, devoted son of
Iris and the late Ramon Luis Victoria
and dear brother of Raquel, Carlos
and Johnny. Services were off ered on
Tuesday, July 24, at Papavero Funeral
Home, 72-27 Grand Ave., Maspeth, followed
by entombment at St. Michael
Cemetery, St. Joseph Mausoleum, East
Elmhurst.
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GENE ESPOSITO of Brooklyn died
on Sunday, July 15, at the age of 92. A
native of Brooklyn, he was the beloved
husband of Jeunice and devoted father
of Junice Mickles, Cliff ord Mickles,
Gina Martinez, Dorothy Ricketson,
Betty Sanderson and John Esposito.
He is also survived by seven grandchildren
and 12 great-grandchildren.
He was also a U.S. Air Force veteran.
Services were off ered at Morton Funeral
Home/Ridgewood Chapels, 663
Grandview Ave., Ridgewood, followed
by cremation at Fresh Pond Crematory,
Middle Village.
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JOSEPH ALOYSIUS LESAR of Long
Beach, NY died on Saturday, July 14,
at the age of 62. A native of Brooklyn,
he was the dear brother of Elizabeth
Lesar. Services were off ered at Morton
Funeral Home/Ridgewood Chapels,
663 Grandview Ave., Ridgewood,
followed by cremation at Fresh Pond
Crematory, Middle Village.
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LOUISE EGDORF FESCINE died
on Friday, July 6, at the age of 85. She
was the wife of the late Joe Fescine
and loving sister of Helmud Egdorf
and the late Wilhelm Egdorf. She
was a cherished aunt, great-aunt
and great-great-aunt to many loving
nieces, nephews, great-nieces and
great-nephews. Services were off ered
on Monday, July 23, at Papavero
Funeral Home, 72-27 Grand Ave.,
Maspeth, followed by interment at
Calverton National Cemetery, Calverton,
NY.
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GABRIELLE CAMPORESE of Williamsburg
and Middle Village died on
Thursday, July 5, at the age of 53. She
was the loving daughter of the late
Theresa B. Stucko. A Mass of Christian
Burial was off ered on Monday, July 23,
at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church,
Brooklyn, followed by interment at
Calvary Cemetery, Woodside, under
the direction of Hess-Miller Funeral
Home, 64-19 Metropolitan Ave., Middle
Village.
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THERESA B. STUCKO of Williamsburg
and Middle Village died on
Thursday, July 5, at the age of 91. She
was the devoted mother of the late Gabrielle.
A Mass of Christian Burial was
off ered at Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Church, Brooklyn, followed by interment
at Calvary Cemetery, Woodside,
under the direction of Hess-Miller
Funeral Home, 64-19 Metropolitan
Ave., Middle Village.
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
George O’Neill, a longtim4e member
of the Maspeth community
through his popular O’Neill’s
restaurant on 53rd Drive, died last
week at the age of 83.
O’Neill passed away on July 18 and
was laid to rest at Mount Olivet Cemetery
on July 23, under the direction
of Papavero Funeral Home. O’Neill’s
restaurant released a statement on its
Facebook page on July 18 commenting
on the late owner’s legacy.
“When you walked into O’Neill’s
everyone knew him and he knew everyone
right back,” the statement said.
“He was the best husband, best Father,
Best Grandfather and best friend to
all…George you will be missed. You
put up a good fi ght, we love you.”
O’Neill’s restaurant fi rst opened its
doors on the day Prohibition ended,
Dec. 5, 1933. Founded by O’Neill’s
father, George O’Neill Sr., it was originally
called the Plateau Tavern and is
approaching its 85th anniversary as a
family-owned and -operated business.
Aft er serving in the Army as a
cook, O’Neill returned from
his tour of duty in 1956 to
help the restaurant grow
and thrive. He eventually
became the proprietor of
the business along with
his son-in-law, Danny Pyle.
Over the years,
O’Neill’s became known
for much more than just
the local spot to get
a
bite to eat. It had an even
larger impact on the
community as
the site
of family christenings, communion gatherings,
confi rmation parties, birthday
parties, anniversary parties, retirement
parties and benefi ts for the NYPD, FDNY
and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
A fi re in 2011 destroyed the restaurant,
but O’Neill and his staff worked
over the next two years to rebuild and
reopen the popular eatery.
Today, the restaurant is awaiting the
fi nal vote on its application to change
its zoning so it can add a second-story
banquet hall to host even more
community events. At public forums
such as Community Board 5, several
residents spoke about the great work
O’Neill’s has done in the community,
and the expansion gained the approval
of the community board.
O’Neill is survived by his brother
James, wife Mary, son George, daughters
Tara, Mary Beth, Deirdre, Jennifer
and Tracy, daughter-in-law Jennifer,
son-in-laws Danny, Brian, Emile and
Michael, grandchildren Daniel, Caitlin,
Jack, Michaela, Riley, Kieran, Molly,
Madison, Sean, Logan, Hannah, Ryan,
Shea, Dylan, Matthew and Mason.
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Photo via
Facebook/
O'Neill's
Maspeth
link
