Ignatius Scarpulla, RCA manager

Ignatius W. Scarpulla, 85, a manager at RCA in Moorestown and in the South Pacific who helped with the historical restoration of four houses in Society Hill, died of leukemia on Saturday, Sept. 24, at his home in Oro Valley, Ariz., near Tucson.

Known as George, Mr. Scarpulla was born in the Bronx, was a teenage civilian air raid warden during World War II, and served as a weather observer in the Army Air Force from January 1946 to January 1947.

He earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1949 at Manhattan College, where, as a son of Sicilian immigrants, he was president of Il Circolo Dante Alighieri, the Italian cultural club.

He earned credits toward a master's degree in civil engineering at Fordham University, but family responsibilities cut short his education.

A daughter, Madelyn, said that in 1960, after working in New York City, Mr. Scarpulla began his career with RCA Corp., eventually becoming a site manager in Moorestown.

From 1965 to 1967, Mr. Scarpulla worked for RCA on Kwajalein Island, now part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

His daughter said that on the island, "he was charged with the construction and maintenance of housing domes for radars used in antiballistic missile testing."

He returned to work there in 1970-71 and in 1981.

"All of it was work," his daughter said. "Vacationers were not permitted on the island at the time. It was accessible only with military clearance via military aircraft."

Mr. Scarpulla was sent to several other RCA sites, including Clear, Alaska, near Fairbanks. He retired from RCA in 1988.

In 1967, Mr. Scarpulla and his wife, Rosemarie, bought the shell of a rowhouse at Third and Spruce Streets, which became the family home until 1978.

His daughter said the couple restored that and three other houses in Society Hill "to colonial-era accuracy, all of which have been certified" by the Philadelphia Historical Commission.

Mr. Scarpulla was a member from 1999 to 2005 of the advisory board for architectural restoration at Old St. Joseph's Church in Society Hill.

Since 1971, he had been a member of the zoning and historic restoration committee of the Society Hill Civic Association.

His daughter said that he and his wife contributed to the 1994 Chilton's Guidebook to Society Hill.

In addition to his daughter Madelyn, Mr. Scarpulla is survived by son John; daughters Marie and Clare; a brother; a sister; and a granddaughter. His wife died in 2006 and his daughter Caren died in 2007.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at Old St. Joseph's Church, 321 Willings Alley, Society Hill.