Silvio D'Ignazio Jr., 90, Media restaurateur

Silvio F. "Babe" D'Ignazio Jr., 90, of Media, owner of the landmark Towne House Restaurant in the borough, died of heart failure Monday at home.

In 1950, Mr. D'Ignazio purchased Ma Kelly's, a shot-and-beer joint in a rowhouse on State Street. He opened it the next year as the Towne House, and eventually expanded to two adjacent buildings.

He rebuilt the restaurant in 1960 after it was gutted by fire, and filled it with antiques. The establishment, near the Delaware County courthouse, became a popular meeting place for judges and lawyers and the public.

His daughter, Lisa Carnie, operates the Towne House with her husband and her brother, Tim. Mr. D'Ignazio retired in the early 1980s to develop real estate, but continued to drop by the restaurant regularly until five years ago.

"He let us know if there was something he didn't like," Carnie said. "He was a big barrel of a man, outgoing, gracious and opinionated."

The son of immigrant Italians, Mr. D'Ignazio took up the sport of fox hunting with a passion, Carnie said, and continued to ride until he was in his 70s. He loved his farm in Oxford, she said, and also had vacation homes in Florida and at the Jersey Shore.

Mr. D'Ignazio grew up in Chester and graduated from Media High School. His father was a blacksmith, and later owned a restaurant in Lima.

Mr. D'Ignazio's nickname had two origins. As the youngest of three children, he was the "babe" of the family. Years later, he was called "Babe the Blue Ox" - a reference to Paul Bunyan's companion - when he played center for the football team at Pennsylvania Military College, now Widener University.

"He would just plow through people," his son Fred said.

After graduating from college, Mr. D'Ignazio was a pilot in the Army Air Force during World War II, and was stationed in Seattle. He was called back to service in the States during the Korean conflict. At the end of his tour of duty, his daughter said, he buzzed State Street in a B-24 and almost got court-martialed.

Since 1947, D'Ignazio had been married to Elizabeth "Libby" McCombs D'Ignazio. They met at his copilot's wedding in Kentucky.

In addition to his wife, daughter and sons Tim and Fred, Mr. D'Ignazio is survived by another son, Owsley; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Friends may call from 2 to 6 p.m. tomorrow at Cavanagh-Patterson Funeral Home, 43 E. Baltimore Ave., Media. They also may call from 8:45 until the 10 a.m. Mass on Monday at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Franklin and Monroe Streets, Media.