Antonio Radocchia

BENNINGTON — Antonio Radocchia, 81, died Saturday, March 16, 2013.

He was born at his family’s farm in Wakefield, Mass., on June 11, 1931. His parents, Giovanni Radocckia and Angelina Bucciacchio Radocckia, emigrated to the United States from Abruzzi, Italy, following WWI. He left home at the age of 5 with $20 from his mother, and worked his way up and down the East Coast until he was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1953. During Korea, he was stationed in England and Fort Benning, Ga. He was a crack pistol shot.

Before he established Montrose Hydraulics in Wakefield, he pruned trees, held a blasting license, built roads, restaurants, and modular homes, welded, and repaired heavy machinery and drive shafts. In 1999, he sold Montrose and moved from Andover, Mass., to a farm on Whipstock Hill in Bennington.

Survivors include his wife of 42 years, Jane Griswold Radocchia; his children, Alexandra Zealand of Arlington, Va., Peter Radocchia of Bennington, Angelina Radocchia of Bennington, and Katherine Radocchia of Reading Mass.; five grandchildren; two sisters, Elizabeth Price and Mary Comunale, and his brother, Dominic Radocchia; and several nephews and nieces.

A service will be held the Bennington Museum, at a time to be announced.

Funeral services are with Mahar & Son Funeral Home, 628 Main St., Bennington.