Pasquale Navarro was a tough competitor, but he was fair, a longtime peer said.

“He was the most trustworthy and honorable gentleman I’ve ever met in the construction industry,” said Raymond Volpatt Sr., the owner of Castle Shannon-based Volpatt Construction Corp., who competed with Navarro for about 50 years in various companies.

Pasquale “Pat” Navarro Sr. of Shadyside died of complications from emphysema in his home on Friday, Aug. 9, 2013. He was 87.

The former president of Downtown-based Navarro Corp., Mr. Navarro was a construction industry leader who advocated for the advancement and fair representation of the field, those who knew him said.

“He lived and breathed the construction industry,” said one of his sons, Dominic Navarro of Pine.

Born June 10, 1926, Mr. Navarro was raised in the East End, Dominic Navarro said. He graduated in 1944 from Shady Side Academy and in 1950 from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., with a bachelor’s degree in military engineering. That same year he married Marie Delli Gatti.

He served in the Army for several years, achieving the rank of first lieutenant, Dominic Navarro said.

In the early 1950s, Mr. Navarro began 35 years of work in Navarro Corp., which was founded by his father, Dominic Navarro, and grandfather, Pasquale Navarro. Mr. Navarro retired as president in the late 1980s.

Up until about six months ago, he was doing some construction-related work for his son Pasquale Navarro Jr.’s interior design business, Navarro Design Associates in East Liberty, Dominic Navarro said.

Mr. Navarro served as president of the Master Builders’ Association of Western Pennsylvania Inc. from 1971-73, during which time he helped start Operation DIG and the Pittsburgh Plan, which assisted minorities in entering the building trades unions, the Green Tree-based association said.

During Mr. Navarro’s leadership at Navarro Corp., the company became the first to use a tower crane in the Pittsburgh region when it worked on the Washington Plaza Apartments. The company’s other notable pro-jects include work at Station Square and the parking decks for the Oxford Centre garage, Downtown, the association said.

In addition to his sons, Mr. Navarro is survived by daughters Patricia Navarro of Aspinwall and Mary Navarro of the North Side; sisters Mary Alexandra Alexander of Indiana and Prudence Navarro of Oakmont; two grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 59 years, Marie Navarro, and a brother, Dominic Navarro.

Visitation will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday and 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday in John A. Freyvogel Sons Inc. funeral home, 4900 Centre Ave., Shadyside.

The funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday in St. Paul Cathedral, Oakland. Burial will be at 10 a.m. Friday in West Point Cemetery.

Tory N. Parrish is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-380-5662 or tparrish@tribweb.com.

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