John Ippolito

The lifelong Dongan Hills resident graduated from New Dorp High School.

He started John Ippolito Trucking and Excavating Co., Inc. with one truck in 1962, and built a major, successful business. He loved to work, and despite being ill, was still on the job a week ago, family said.

He sponsored and managed a Little League team in the Staten Island Little League in Dongan Hills for about nine years in the 1980s.

Mr. Ippolito was respected and well-loved. He had a gift for making a connection with everyone he met, remembering details about them and their families. And he was a great storyteller, family said.

He enjoyed playing the guitar and singing, and loved gospel and country music, with Hank Williams and Johnny Cash two of his favorites. He was a New York Yankees fan. And he especially loved being with his family and was thrilled to be a grandfather.

Mr. Ippolito loved to read the Bible and was committed to spreading the word of God, family said. He was an active member of Christian Pentecostal Church, Concord, where he served on the board.

His son, John, died in 2004.

Surviving are his wife of 54 years, the former Susan Jowise; his son, Mark; his daughters, Valerie Finn and Aurora Cicero; two brothers, Michael and George; two sisters, Marie Uzavines and Martha Acacia, and two granddaughters.

The funeral service will be Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Christian Pentecostal Church. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp. The Casey Funeral Home, Castleton Corners, is handling arrangements.