Anthony Acevedo | Window cleaner, 43

Anthony Acevedo, 43, a window cleaner at some of Philadelphia's most lofty buildings, died in his sleep Monday from heart failure.

Mr. Acevedo was responsible for cleaning the windows at One and Two Liberty Place, Mellon Tower, the Independence Blue Cross building, and Commerce Square.

Mr. Acevedo tackled dirty windows on high-rise buildings built in the 1980s, and more recently at the Comcast Tower and Kimmel Center.

In 1999, he joined Jenkintown Building Services Inc. and branched out to training novice cleaners. He was a master rigger, able to design and set up rigging to place cleaners outside the toughest buildings, friends said.

"Big Ant," as friends called him, learned his trade from his father, Augustine.

"I remember seeing him on his father's shoulders as his father walked down the street, pole and bucket in hand, yelling 'Window Man,' as he solicited new accounts," said friend Paul Stringer.

By his late teens, Mr. Acevedo was working with the cleaning crews. In recent years, his focus shifted to managing projects and setting rigging.

Born and raised in Kensington and Northeast Philadelphia, he graduated from Lincoln High School in 1984. In 1991, he moved with his family to Jim Thorpe, Pa. In 2006, he moved back to the Northeast.

Window cleaning, sports, and friends were his passions, said friend Butch Chapman.

He is survived by his father; stepmother Nancy; two sisters; and nine brothers. His mother and another brother predeceased him.

Funeral services will be from 9 to 11 a.m. today at Edward Melber Funeral Home, 524 Center St., Jim Thorpe.

Donations may be made to the Anthony Acevedo Sports Scholarship Fund, c/o Jenkintown Building Services Inc., 101 Greenwood Ave., Jenkintown, Pa. 19046.