Joseph M. Somma Jr., founder and owner of Joseph M. Somma Funeral Home, died on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2001, at his home in Land O’Lakes, Fla., of pancreatic cancer. He was 73. Known to be a prankster, Mr. Somma once hung his Christmas tree upside down in the corner of the family’s basement apartment beneath the funeral home in Robinson Township. Another time, he invited friends over for a party and told everyone to bring a pillow. When they got there, his furniture was gone. People had to sit on the floor with their pillows. “He was a great guy,” said Dave Winning of Robinson Township, a longtime friend. “He was a great person to be around.” He was born and grew up in East Liberty, the son of Catherine and Joseph M. Somma Sr. He graduated from Westinghouse High School in 1946 and the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science in 1948. In 1950, he married Dolores Coscia, his sweetheart since junior high school. Mr. Somma founded the Joseph Somma Funeral Home on Brushton Avenue in Homewood-Brushton in 1954. Five years later, he purchased a field in Moon Run, Robinson Township, the current site of the funeral home. “He saw something no one else saw,” Winning said. “Everybody was amazed we got a funeral home.” Until the business could support his family, he worked at the Union Railroad and as a school bus driver for Montour School District. After the death of his father, his mother, Catherine, lived with the Sommas and answered funeral home calls in his absence. His wife, Delores, was one of the two tellers at the “portable” Mellon Bank, essentially a small mobile home, in Moon Run. “They’re just a hard-working family,” Winning said. “Joe was brought up that way.” Chuck and Audrey Pocci of Robinson Township have been friends with the Somma family for about 40 years. “He was a good sport, that’s for sure,” Chuck Pocci said. “My seven kids called him ‘Uncle Joe.’ He was a good friend, we had a lot of good times together.” The Sommas moved to Florida in 1981, and their son, Thomas, took over running the funeral home. He enjoyed collecting novelties, such as talking clocks and frogs. He also enjoyed fishing and spending time in his pontoon boat. Each year, the Sommas returned to Pennsylvania to see their old friends. “We had good fun,” Winning said. “It’s a hard thing to see him be gone.” Mr. Somma was a member of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and national funeral directors associations, the Lafayette Masonic Lodge 652 in Carnegie and the Egypt Temple Shrine in Florida. He was formerly a member and past president of the Robinson Township Civic League. He also was a former member of Robinson Lions Club, Moon Run Volunteer Fire Department and Sierra Temple Shrine. Mr. Somma was preceded in death by a grandson. Mr. Somma is survived by his wife, Dolores C. Somma of Land O’Lakes, Fla.; his daughters, Dianne M. Marchman and Elaine M. Somma, all of Tampa, Fla.; his son, Thomas J. Somma of Robinson Township; a sister, Audrey Jones of Bethel Park; seven grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today and Wednesday in the Joseph M. Somma Funeral Home Inc., 5405 Steubenville Pike, Robinson Township, where a Lafayette Masonic Lodge service will be held at 7:30 tonight. There will be a wake service at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Holy Trinity Church, where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Thursday. Memorial contributions may be made to the Hospice of Pasco, Inc., 3539 Universal Plaza, New Port Richey, FL 34652.

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