As soon as he saw his wife Louise, Gene Passarella excitedly reached for her hand.
That's when the band struck up one of his favorite tunes, "Bye Bye Blackbird."
Surrounded by more than 100 relatives, friends and other well-wishers, the Passarellas continued to grasp one another's hands in Nay Aug Park on Sunday afternoon as the band played on in Gene's honor.
Passarella, a decorated World War II veteran and longtime leader of the Gene Dempsey Orchestra, is two days shy of his 100th birthday.
These photos by WVIA News contributor Aimee Dilger capture the spirit of Sunday's festive gathering.
Seven decades at band's helm
The Purple Heart recipient, who was shot by a sniper in Belgium in 1945, returned home to Scranton after the war.
As recounted in a WVIA News feature story last year, Passarella took a job with the U.S. Postal Service, married sweetheart Louise Colangelo in 1952, and not long afterward took over a band he had formed with his brothers.
For seven decades — long after he retired from the Postal Service — Passarella continued to lead the band, including a memorable peformance at last September's La Festa Italiana, when he was 99.
Passarella has lived at the Gino J. Merli Veterans Center in Scranton for the past four months due to health reasons. Staff brought him to Nay Aug for Sunday's tribute concert.
He gave a friendly wave to the gathering as he exited the van, held his Purple Heart baseball cap over his heart while the band played "The Star-Spangled Banner," and basked in the glory of a sunny Sunday afternoon next to the woman he loves.
Passarella's birthday is Tuesday, Aug. 12.
