Grace A. Pentasuglio

PENTASUGLIO - Grace A. "Blue Bird" (nee Marinaccio) Of West Seneca, entered into rest December 14, 2017, beloved wife of the late Daniel A. Pentasuglio; devoted mother of Joseph W. (Margaret) Pentasuglio, Mary Lou (Bruce Ward) Pentasuglio and Susan (Michael) Montesano; cherished grandmother of Joseph, Danielle, Gracie Lee, Mary Ann, Andrew and the late David; adored great-grandmother of Tyler, Jake, Brandon, Julia, Dominic and Jayden; loving daughter of the late Sebastian and Anntoinette Marinaccio; dear sister of the late Samuel, Connie, William, Louis and Anthony; also survived by many nieces and nephews. Relatives and friends may visit the lombardo funeral home (Southtowns Chapel), 3060 Abbott Rd. near Lake Ave., on Sunday from 2-7 PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Queen of Heaven Church, 4220 Seneca St., West Seneca on Monday morning at 10:15 o'clock (please assemble at church). Interment Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Grace E. Pentasuglio was known as Gracie Bluebird to friends and family, an affectionate nickname for the woman responsible for the popular confections that came out of her Blue Bird Bakery, as well as her reputation for a sweet demeanor. The former Grace Marinaccio, died Dec. 14 in Autumn View Health Care Facility. She was 91. She was born in Buffalo, graduated from Hutchinson Central Technical High School and eventually settled in West Seneca. After high school, Mrs. Penasuglio worked as a laborer, cleaning gas tanks for the war effort during World War II. She and her late husband, Daniel, who died in 2012, opened the bakery on West Avenue, around the corner form Rich Products. It specialized in Italian Christmas cookies, St. Josephs and Easter breads, whipped cream layer cakes and, most famously, custom-made wedding cakes. She retired in 1986. Mrs. Pentasuglio was also a past president of the School 18 & 77 Parent Teachers Association in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as a contributor to the Butler Mitchell Boys & Girls Club. She was a member of the Hertel/North Park Lions Club and West Seneca Lions Club, The WNY Blind Association, for which she often held picnics at her home, Queen of Heaven Sodality Womans Group, and a Queen of Heaven Lawn Fete volunteer . She and her husband were also Buffalo sports fans, who held season tickets for the Buffalo Bisons and Bills for several years, and attended Super Bowl XXVII in Minnesota.