A.M. Pinizzotto, 79, civil engineer

ANTHONY M. Pinizzotto was an old-world gentleman, always elegantly turned out, with impeccable manners and sophisticated tastes in music, art and food.

A night at a charming restaurant and a seat at the opera, preferably a showing of his favorite, "Cavaliere Rusticana," was his idea of a fine time.

He was a change of pace for his wife, Margaret Kruza Pinizzotto, who came from a family of jocks.

"He was a different type of guy from what I was used to," she said. "He was very sophisticated, a real old-world Italian gentleman."

Tony Pinizzotto, a member of the construction team that built the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore who later lent his entrepreneurial skills to help his wife develop a thriving legal-recruiting firm, an Army veteran of World War II and world traveler, died Thursday of complications of Alzheimer's disease. He was 79 and lived in Radnor.

He was born in Philadelphia to Mariano Pinizzotto and the former Maria Ridolfo, Italian immigrants, and graduated from South Philadelphia High School.

He served with the Army in the South Pacific near the end of World War II. Back home, he took advantage of the GI Bill to further his education.

He received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and a bachelor's in industrial management from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He later received a master's degree in engineering from Drexel.

Tony moved to New York City and held a number of positions with the New York City Health and Hospital Corp. He returned to Philadelphia and joined the Parsons-Brinckerhoff engineering and construction firm and became an integral part of the construction of the Fort McHenry Tunnel under Baltimore Harbor.

In 1976, he saw his future wife in a Center City restaurant and was so struck by her he began trailing her around town to find out who she was.

He found out, and they were married in 1982.

Tony left engineering and became a founding partner with his wife in Kruza Legal Search, a Philadelphia recruiting firm that specializes in the legal profession. Under their management, the firm thrived and is one of the largest of its kind in the region.

He and Margaret were dedicated travelers. They went to Europe twice a year, usually to Italy. Tony was proud of his Italian heritage and spoke the language fluently.

Besides his wife, he is survived by two sons, Mariano ("Marty") and Daniel; three daughters, Marygrace Brignola, Rosanne Penn and Joy Pinizzotto; step-children Karen Kruza Quinn, Thomas Kruza and Steven Kruza, and four grandchildren.

Services: Funeral Mass 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at St. Katharine of Siena Church, Lancaster and Aberdeen avenues, Wayne. Friends may call at 9 a.m.

Burial will be in Ss. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Marple. *