Philip Messina, 78 - silive.com

Philip Messina, 78

Philip Messina, 1994

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Philip Messina Sr., 78, of Rossville, a retired car dealership general manager and a loving family man, died Saturday in Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze.

Born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, he graduated from high school there.

Mr. Messina served in the U.S. Army.

He and AnnMarie Turitto met when they were vacationing on the Jersey Shore. The couple fell in love and after their marriage in 1961, they moved to Huguenot. They also lived in New Jersey and Arizona before returning to the Island, settling in Rossville.

Mr. Messina was the general manager for a major car dealership in New Jersey. He was a top salesman and an excellent speaker and motivator, family said. He retired in 1998.

He loved riding horses, and also enjoyed bicycle riding and listening to Frank Sinatra. But most of all, he loved being with his family.

Mr. Messina was a parishioner of Our Lady Star of the Sea R.C. Church, Huguenot.

Surviving, along with AnnMarie, his wife of 49 years, are his son, Philip Jr.; his daughters, Lisa Primiano and Jennifer Messina; his brother, Louis, and five grandchildren.

The funeral will be Tuesday from the A. Azzara Funeral Home, South Beach, with a mass at 10 a.m. in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church. Burial will follow in Resurrection Cemetery, Pleasant Plains.

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