Rocco P. D'Orazio, 85, blind typist

Rocco P. D'Orazio, 85, of South Philadelphia, a blind Dictaphone typist for the Social Security Administration, died Monday of Parkinson's disease and dementia at St. Monica Manor.

Mr. D'Orazio, the middle of nine children, became blind after being stricken with scarlet fever, diphtheria and spinal meningitis when he was 14 months old.

The youngster learned braille at St. Mary's Institute for the Blind, where he was a boarding student during elementary and high school. He graduated in 1942. He attended Overbrook School for the Blind and Palmer Business School, where he learned to operate a Dictaphone.

Mr. D'Orazio skillfully navigated Philadelphia streets and the transit system with a cane and guide dog. For a while, he and a blind friend sold various items at 30th and Market Streets. They were often victims of customers who shortchanged them.

"Those early years were rough," Mr. D'Orazio said in a 1972 Philadelphia Daily News article. "There were times when I was completely out of work."

His luck changed when he landed a position at the Social Security Administration in 1964, where he worked for 20 years as a Dictaphone operator.

Mr. D'Orazio relaxed by taking the bus to concerts at Robin Hood Dell in Fairmount Park. In 1965, on a soft summer night, a sparkling laugh caught his attention as he waited alone for the bus to take him home.

"I saw his cane and dog," said his wife of 43 years, Philomena D'Orazio, who had attended the concert with a group of friends. "He was impeccably dressed and seemed very independent. He asked me to sit next to him on the bus ride home to South Philadelphia."

Mr. D'Orazio chatted up the former Philomena Ricchini that night, and they married that year. The couple lived with relatives for several years before settling in their South Philadelphia rowhouse.

"My husband did not express himself often," his wife said. Shortly before he died, he asked her to come close and said, "I want to thank you for all your kindness to me."

In addition to his wife, Mr. D'Orazio is survived by a sister and nieces and nephews.

Friends may visit at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow at Annunciation Catholic Church, 10th and Dickinson Streets. A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery.