Joseph Maselli, co-owned Delco dental lab

Joseph A. Maselli, owner and operator of J&R Dental Labs in Collingdale for 25 years and a wounded Army veteran of World War II, died Friday. He was 88 and lived in Drexel Hill.

Joseph was wounded when he threw himself on a cook at a mess hall after a grenade exploded. The concussion damaged his ear, but he and the cook survived. He received the Purple Heart and other decorations for his service.

Joseph entered the Army in 1942, serving in the South Pacific until the war ended in 1945.

He was recently honored by the Keystone-Lorraine Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

He was born in Philadelphia to Louis and Elizabeth Maselli and graduated from South Philadelphia High School.

Joseph worked for a time for a dental lab in Philadelphia, learning the trade. He and a partner then formed J&R, which he operated until his retirement in the mid-'80s.

He also did bookbinding on the side.

He married the former Serina L. Foti in 1951. She died in 2001.

Besides the VFW, he was a member of the Benvenuto Lodge of the Sons of Italy. He was a fourth-degree Knight of Columbus as a member of the Cardinal Dougherty Lodge 913. He was also a 50-year member of the Men of Malvern.

Joseph enjoyed golfing and traveling to Atlantic City to patronize the casinos.'

"He was a very generous person," said his daughter Tina. "He would do anything for you. He'd give you the shirt off his back."

He also is survived by two other daughters, Regina Vassallo and Carol Maselli, and five grandchildren.

Services: Funeral Mass 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at St. Bernadette Church, Turner and Bond avenues, Drexel Hill. Friends may call at 7 tonight and at 9 a.m. tomorrow at the Robert L. D'Anjolell Memorial Home of Broomall, 2811 West Chester Pike, Broomall. Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery, Yeadon.

Contributions may be made to St. Bernadette Church, 1035 Turner Ave., Drexel Hill PA, 19026, or Vitas Hospice, 1740 Walton Road, Suite 100, Blue Bell PA 19422. *

- John F. Morrison