Galzerano Funeral Home
Philadelphia: (215) 698-7545 | Fax: (215) 676-1962
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Harry Paravicini

Harry "The Great" Paravicini was born on September 2, 1937 in Philadelphia and lived in various parts of the city his entire life. He attended Lincoln High School and Drexel University for commerce and engineering. He was a hard worker, and had a plethora of occupations starting at age 12 as a newspaper delivery boy, butcher, door-to-door salesman, Greyhound bus driver, and steamfitter.  Harry was raised in the Protestant faith and raised his own family in the Presbyterian Church, becoming a deacon in the church as a young father.

 
While at Drexel, he joined ROTC and served in the US Army Reserves. He was a member of the Freemasons, Shriners, Steamfitters Local Union 420 and Delaware Valley Tennis Club.  At 59 he retired from a 40-year career at JJ White Contractors as a steamfitter foreman and OSHA instructor. Harry loved to travel with his wife, Cass, and together they visited countries all over the world. He loved history and was an avid reader, often reading 2-3 books in a week. Daily he would complete crossword and advanced sudoku puzzles. His other hobbies included gardening, NASCAR, rooting for Philly sports teams and consuming desserts of all kinds.
 
Harry had a passion for sports throughout his years including basketball, volleyball, tennis and bike riding. Some of his proudest accomplishments were playing volleyball in the US Senior Olympics and biking the full MS-150 mile City-to-Shore ride at the age of 72. Everyone who knew Harry the Great, - knew that he was a self-proclaimed expert on all subjects. He loved giving history lessons to anyone who would listen including family, friends, doctors, nurses, waitresses, and complete strangers.
 
Harry was a loyal friend and was deeply devoted to his family. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Catherine, daughters: Dawn (Paul) Kosmorsky, Kimberly Olsen and Heather Bakker (Stacey) and grandchildren: Kara, Connor, Cole, Steven, Cassidy, William, Arthur, and beloved feline Cooper.
He will be dearly missed for his love, generosity, sense of humor and out-spoken personality. Harry was always eagerly on-call to help his friends and family in any emergency or home repair project with his vast menagerie of tools and supplies.
 
Relatives and friends are invited to call Tuesday, July 26th from 9:30 to 11am at the Galzerano Funeral Home, 9304 Old Bustleton Avenue, Philadelphia, PA  19115.  Funeral Service will follow at 11:00am. 

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Service/Memorial Information
  • Visitation

    Tuesday, July 26th, 2022
    9:30 AM - 11:00 AM

    Louis C. Galzerano Funeral Home, Inc.
    9304 Old Bustleton Avenue
    Philadelphia, PA 19115

  • Funeral Service

    Tuesday, July 26th, 2022
    11:00 AM

    Louis C. Galzerano Funeral Home, Inc.
    9304 Old Bustleton Avenue
    Philadelphia, PA 19115

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