Former owner of Pa. Macaroni in Strip District
Anthony Sunseri was part of the hardworking family that built the Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. into the Strip District institution that it remains today. Hence the nickname this Strip institution gave himself: Tony Macaroni.
Mr. Sunseri, whom his family called Knute, died Monday at age 86 at Forbes Hospice in Bloomfield. He had been suffering from heart and swallowing issues.
He is remembered by many Pittsburghers just as Tony from the days after he sold his share of Penn Mac and worked in his sons’ nearby Italian food store, Jimmy & Nino Sunseri Co., that those two opened in 1985.
He’d stand on the sidewalk along Penn Avenue and sell slices of pizza or hawk sandwiches from behind the counter inside.
“Have you tried my Mystery Cheese lately?” he’d ask customers, always adding, “No double dipping!”
He retired in 1993 and hated it because he missed the people. But he remains part of the flavors of the Strip as the creator of popular Sunseri recipes, including the Tuna Balsamic Sandwich and the Legendary Dipping Peppers, which now are integral to the hot-selling Atomic Pepperoni Rolls.
His life centered around work in the Italian stores, his family — especially his wife of 66 years, Ann — and the kitchen of their Greenfield home, where they raised five children.
“Everything happened around that kitchen table — food, laughter and love,” said Nino, who remembers waiting for his father to come home after long days at work. He and his siblings would take turns sitting on his lap, telling him about their days while he ate. Sometimes after dinner, they’d go on deliveries with their parents in the family station wagon. Soon enough, at ages 11 and 10, Jimmy and Nino also went to work in the store.
Anthony Carl Sunseri was born in Millvale, and even though he was not tall (5 feet, 7 inches), played center on the St. Anthony School basketball team. He was tough, too, at sandlot football.
But after the family moved to Oakland, his father died and he was pulled from school to help his mother run Penn Mac while she raised the six kids.
Despite the long hours, he managed to squeeze in some fun. It was at an upstairs dance hall in Oakland that the 20-year-old met Anna Mary Graham, whom he married shortly thereafter.
Nino says the two had “a wonderful, wonderful relationship — one that any couple would cherish.” They supported their children in a variety of athletic endeavors and other ways, he said, noting, “I don’t think there was a happier family.”
The family grew as some of the kids got really into sports. Brothers Gus (“Gusty”) and Sal became football All-Americans, playing for top teams at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, respectively. Sal is now the Oakland Raiders’ linebackers coach.
As teenagers, they’d hang out at their house with friends including Terry Totten, Hugh Green, Rickey Jackson and Dan Marino. Gusty says that even though the family owned Penn Mac, his mother had to go to Giant Eagle for groceries every day. Many of their friends thought of his dad as a second dad.
They called him “Knute,” as in the legendary coach Knute Rockne, going back to one day when Mr. Sunseri was pacing the sidelines of one of their St. Philomena School games, patting the back of his head like he did when he was nervous. Gusty choked up as he said, “He never missed a game.” He went on to dote on his grandchildren and then on his great-grandchildren, too.
Both he and Nino credit their father for setting examples that they and their siblings still follow. Whether in business or family, sports or food, Nino said, “He taught us that a job’s not done until it’s done right.”
Gusty added, “He’s emblematic of what the Strip District is all about and what Pittsburgh is all about.”
In addition to his wife and sons James of Highland Park, Nino of Monroeville, Gus of Fox Chapel and Sal of San Francisco, Mr. Sunseri is survived by a daughter, Linda Wright of Fox Chapel; 18 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 1 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Walter Zalewski Funeral Home, 216 44th St., Lawrenceville. The funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Stanislaus Church, 21st and Smallman streets, Strip District. Interment will be private.