CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Michael F. Baldi, 99, truck driver, World War II veteran

Buffalo News - 2/6/2020

Feb. 6--April 30, 1920 -- Feb. 1, 2020

Michael F. Baldi, a truck driver and World War II veteran, died Feb. 1 in Our Lady of Peace, Lewiston, where he had been a resident for six years. He was 99.

Born in Italy, a twin and one of four boys, he came to Buffalo'sWest Side with his family as a child and grew up on Busti Avenue.

He left school to work in the 1930s, to help support his family.

He served in the Army in the 564th Field Artillery Battalion with the 71st Infantry Division in France, Germany and Austria during the final months of World War II and guarded German prisoners of war.

Returning from service, he married his childhood sweetheart, the former Marie G. Collura, in 1946.

He worked at Buffalo Slag and Bethlehem Steel before becoming a member of the Teamsters union in the late 1950s.

He drove delivery trucks locally, primarily with Inner City Truck Lines.

He retired in 1985.

Mr. Baldi and his wife moved to Niagara Falls in 1961 and to Las Vegas in the 1980s to join their son there. They returned to live in Wheatfield in 2004.

His wife died in 2008.

He was a member of Amvets Post 26 in North Tonawanda. He bowled in several local leagues and enjoyed playing cards and pool. He excelled at pool and continued playing regularly, until he was 93.

Surviving are two daughters, Kathleen Lewis and Angeline Curtis; a son, Joseph M.; seven grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and one step-great-granddaughter.

Services with military honors will be held at 11 a.m. Friday in the All Saints Mausoleum Chapel of Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 500 Riverdale Ave., Lewiston.

___

(c)2020 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.)

Visit The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) at www.buffalonews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.