Edward Fanuzzi

U.S. Army Signal Corps
1953-1956
Korean War

Edward Fanuzzi was born and raised in Travis. He attended Public School 26. He was a Machine
Shop Foreman at his High School.

Ed enlisted and served on the Korean Peninsula. After his service, he was employed at Sterner & LeBlanc TV store until he became a General Electric Hotpoint Division Factory Representative, repairing every appliance they made.

In 1962 he married Marilyn. They have four children and three grandchildren and live on the North Shore. That same year Ed joined the New York Fire Department, serving 30 years, until 1992. He also worked as a diver in underwater salvage.

In 2011 he became the subject of a short documentary film “Fanuzzi’s Gold.” “I find gold because I look for gold,” Ed says in this whimsical character study, “and if you don’t look, you don’t find.” The junk collector drolly admits to his loving wife that he takes things home just because they’re broken and he knows how to fix them; he fixes them and throws them away again. It’s his life’s work. Fanuzzi approaches whatever life brings him with restless creativity, dauntless humor, and a tirelessly upbeat attitude—including a disabled daughter and son. In the film Ed shows us a lift he made for his son using castoff parts. “It cost $50,” he says with pride, and the notion of fixing what’s been broken takes on a whole new meaning.

Ed is the last surviving member of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 1574, Blazing Star.

Sponsored by Congregation of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church on Staten Island.