Peter N. Tascio

Peter Nazarene Tascio was born Dec. 5, 1951, twenty days before Christmas. All his life he loved the Christmas season — the hymns, the lights, the movies, the presents, the decorating of the tree, and the sweet, holy miracle it all builds up to. Visitation will be Tuesday, December 21, from 4 to 9 p.m. at Kinsley Mortuary. A rosary service will be held at 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, December 22, at St. Gregory's Catholic Church in Marysville. The funeral service will begin at 10:00 a.m. Burial will be in St. Gregory's Catholic Cemetery. Peter grew up in Silver Lake, New York, with a younger sister, Nancy, whom he teased from infancy onward, and whom he was mercilessly teased by. He was an excellent student, a Boy Scout, and an altar boy. Very early in his life Peter fell in love with music, especially the guitar. In high school he and his three best friends, Al, Rocco, and Tony, formed a band, with Peter on guitar and vocals. They covered Beatles music and played parties and events. Peter studied electrical engineering at Manhattan College, working at a nursing home to pay tuition. There, he met his future wife, Anne Carr. They honeymooned in Cape Cod, and moved into a White Plains apartment across the street from Nancy and her husband, Bobby. A few years later, now with three children — Elizabeth, Marian, and Peter — Peter and Anne bought a home in Putnam Lake, New York. Around the same time, Peter lost his mother, Anna, whom he adored. Family life was busy and full. Two more children — James and Clare — came along. Peter often ferried the kids to their own band performances, to dance class and karate class and baseball games, to early morning drill practices, to birthday parties and family gatherings. He helped them learn to ride bikes and played games with them at the lake. He shared his love of movies with them, including anything featuring John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart, and had yearly screenings of favorites like The Quiet Man and It’s a Wonderful Life. A great reader, he had bookshelves full of westerns and detective fiction, and many books about God, faith, saints and miracles. He read all of them and pressed some into the hands of loved ones he thought would like them, too. Every year he baked the family’s holiday pies, carefully following his mother’s handwritten recipes. He loved picking out the Christmas tree, fretted over tying it securely to the roof of the car, and finally enjoyed the lights and the music once the tree was standing straight and decorated. He was an excellent gift wrapper. As his children grew up and got married, Peter welcomed their chosen spouses like his own children. He loved joking around with Paul and Matt and going to ball games and rodeos with them; Magda’s sparkly smile, quick wit, and beautiful singing voice went straight to his heart. Peter was generous and giving, to loved ones and strangers alike. Friends could count on him, always. In the years he worked in New York City, he often gave money and food to people on the street. For many years, Peter volunteered to lead Christmas caroling with his guitar at the community tree-lighting ceremony in Putnam Lake, and every year he bought toys and warm coats for local gift drives. Peter was working on Maiden Lane in lower Manhattan on 9/11/2001. When he came home, his shoes and hair were covered with ash. The constant in his life was his devotion to his faith. A lifelong Catholic, he was also a lay Carmelite, a Eucharistic minister, a mentor and friend to other divorced Catholics, and, for more than twenty years, the leader of a folk group for Sacred Heart Church in Putnam Lake. Even when he started experiencing memory loss and confusion, signaling the onset of dementia, he kept serving his church this way, simply apologizing when he missed a note. In 2016, Peter lost his youngest son, Jim, to alcoholism. Again, Peter’s faith in God and trust in heaven helped comfort him. On Jim’s next birthday, when Peter was visiting Jim’s grave with his oldest son, he said simply, “We’ll see him again.” In June of 2017, Peter moved to a senior living apartment in Kansas to be near his oldest daughters and his grandchildren. Though he was nervous to leave New York and the family and friends he loved there, Peter soon embraced his new home and developed friendships, and he participated in everything he could. By March of 2020, his condition had declined and he needed more support. Peter was fortunate enough to be able to move to The Lighthouse, a memory care home a few minutes from Marian and her family. Over the next 21 months, his dementia worsened, and he lost the ability to enjoy movies, to go for his daily walk, and to have conversations. In his last summer he was sometimes angry and frustrated. Eventually he couldn’t speak, walk, or even lift a glass to take a sip of water. But the grace and surrender he’d always admired in people like Padre Pio and Saint Thérèse seemed to continue to sustain him. He wore his scapular. He responded when people prayed with him. His eyes stayed warm, clear, and aware. Visits from Anne and his children and phone calls from loved ones brought smiles, and hints of smiles. In his last days his loved ones sang for him some of his favorite Christmas hymns and songs, put his name in the hat for the yearly Secret Santa drawing, and watched one last Christmas movie with him. One of the last gifts he received was a Mass celebrated at his bedside on his birthday, Dec. 5, arranged by Marian. Though he almost never spoke by then, as she said goodbye that day, he was able to mouth the words, “Thank you.” Peter was preceded in death by his parents, Anna (Magnotta) Tascio and Nazarene Francis Tascio, and his son, James Joseph Tascio. He leaves behind his loving friend and former wife, Anne Tascio; daughter Elizabeth Tascio and her husband Paul Friedrichs and their children, Sylvia and Levi; daughter Marian Friedrichs and her husband Matthew Friedrichs and their children, Isaiah, Bernadette, Kateri, Mara, Pia, and Gideon; son Peter Tascio and his wife Magda Majcher Tascio; daughter Clare Tascio; his sister Nancy DiDona and her sons Robert and Gregory DiDona and their families; and many beloved friends, both lifelong and new. A memorial fund has been established and will be designated later. Contributions may be sent in care of Kinsley Mortuary. Video of funeral for Peter Tascio To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Peter N. Tascio, please visit our flower store.