Daniel J. Carboni, 89, longtime Philadelphia florist

Daniel J. Carboni, 89, of Holmesburg, a florist and father of 13, died at home Tuesday, Feb. 28, of heart failure.

Mr. Carboni grew up in Holmesburg with five older siblings. After completing eighth grade, he dropped out of school and held a series of jobs, including working on a pig farm and a chicken farm, his daughter Kathleen Heron said.

During World War II, he served in the Navy as a signalman aboard the destroyer escort William T. Powell in the North Atlantic. Before shipping overseas, he married Mary Hartwell.

After his discharge, Mr. Carboni and three brothers opened Mayfair Flowers, a wholesale and retail flower business on Rowland Avenue that eventually included nine greenhouses. When the property was sold in 1958, he opened Danny's Flowers in lower Mayfair. In 1960, he purchased buildings on Frankford Avenue in Holmesburg for his home and flower shop.

He recruited his children to help out in the business, his daughter said. "When our dates pulled up in the driveway, he would ask where we were headed, and we'd have to make one or two deliveries on the way," she said.

Mr. Carboni retired at 80 in 2002.

Even after his children left home, he continued to grow a dozen tomato and pepper plants in his garden every summer, his daughter said. He loved visiting Harrah's in Atlantic City and, more recently, SugarHouse Casino in Fishtown and taught his daughters to play craps.

He was "an animated storyteller," his daughter said, sharing tales about growing up in Holmesburg, the Navy, and his many years in the flower business.

Mr. Carboni was preceded in death by his wife, Mary. In addition to his daughter, Mr. Carboni is survived by sons Frank, John, Louis, Ed, Tom, and Bill; daughters Jo Bloom, Bernadette Bridgeman, Rose Coates, and Janet Neill; a sister; 25 grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren.

Friends may call from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday, March 4, and from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Monday, March 5, at Givnish Funeral Home, 10975 Academy Rd., Philadelphia. A Funeral Mass will be said at 11:30 a.m. Monday at St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church, 8504 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia. Burial will be in St. Dominic's Cemetery.