Anthony Iacobucci, 73, home-builder

IT WAS typical of Tony Iacobucci to come up with the idea for an Italian/Irish golf tournament.

Tony had a wit that wouldn't quit, and the joining of two seemingly disparate ethnic groups on the golf greens must have appealed to his offbeat sense of humor.

Each tournament at the Rolling Green Country Club in Springfield, Delaware County, began when one of the Italian players impersonated the pope and blessed the field.

"Win for the pope!" was the cry. And the fun began, 45 Italian-Americans vs. 45 Irish-Americans in friendly combat.

Tony started the annual tournament in 1976 with Jack McGuinn, and it continues to this day. Despite the frivolity, the players took the game seriously, which might reflect Tony's own personality.

In addition to his sense of fun, he was also a serious businessman who helped build family-owned Iacobucci Homes into one of the region's biggest construction companies.

Anthony J. Iacobucci, who also was a civic leader in Delaware County, active in numerous charitable causes, and a youth coach for many years, died Sunday after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. He was 73 and lived in Springfield.

Iacobucci Homes, formerly known as the Iacobucci Organization, was founded in 1952 by Tony and his brother Frank. It has built and developed more than 6,500 homes throughout the Delaware Valley.

The company became a pioneer in condominium construction in 1972 with the creation of Hilltop Condominiums in Brookhaven, Delaware County.

Tony was born in Overbrook to Reginald and Gilda Iacobucci. He played football at Overbrook High School and later in a semipro league.

He and fellow teens used to hang out at Smokey Joe's Corner, a soda fountain at Kenmore Road and Media Street in Overbrook, and they held reunions every year at the Drexelbrook Inn in Drexel Hill. In those days, his nickname was "Tony Yak."

He studied engineering at Drexel Institute of Technology, now Drexel University, before joining his brother in the building business.

He married the former Carolina Sardella in 1957.

In 1960, he moved his family to Springfield, where he became an active member of St. Francis of Assisi Parish. He coached Springfield Boys Club football from 1969 to 1976.

In the 1970s, he worked with local state legislators to form "Pennsylvanians Aware," a coalition to raise drug and alcohol awareness among youths.

He was a past president and a director of Rolling Green Country Club.

Until his illness forced him to retire, he managed the operations of the Penn Oaks Country Club in West Chester, which he and his brother purchased in the early 1990s.

He was honored as Man of the Year by the Christopher Columbus Memorial Association in 1997.

Tony liked to chill out at the family home in Brigantine, N.J., where he kept a motorboat.

"He was a unique person," his wife said. "He was very compassionate and genuinely sincere. His wit was incredible. I had 50 years of one laugh after another."

Besides his wife and brother, he is survived by a daughter, Mary Ann Messick; three sons, Raymond Iacobucci, Michael Iacobucci and David Mulhern, and seven grandchildren. He was predeceased by another son, Anthony.

Services: Funeral Mass 10 a.m. tomorrow at St. Francis of Assisi Church, Saxer Avenue and Rolling Road, Springfield. Friends may call at 6 this evening at the Robert L. D'Anjolell Memorial Home of Broomall, 2811 West Chester Pike, Broomall, and at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow at the funeral home. Burial will be in Ss. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Marple.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the National Centre for Padre Pio, 2213 Old Route 100, Barto Pa. 19504, or to the Alz-heimer's Association, Robert Morris Building, 100 N. 17th St., Philadelphia 19103. *