Joseph Tumminello

Joseph Vincent Tumminello, a retired supermarket executive and former resident of Baltimore, died of natural causes Aug. 15 at his home under hospice care, 12 days shy of his 97th birthday.

Mr. Tumminello was born in Baltimore, the fourth and last survivor of 10 children, and worked at his father's stall at Lexington Market in the city as a youth. He met his wife of 71 years, the former Anele Waitekunas, in 1918, at Number One School on Green Street across from Westminster Church.

After graduation from Baltimore City College, he worked for the A&P Tea Co., eventually rising to produce supervisor for central Maryland, the Eastern Shore and parts of Delaware.

He opened many of the area A&P stores, which are now SuperFresh, including in Baltimore, Annapolis, Catonsville and Cambridge. He trained and worked along side of many store managers who remember his courtesy, wit and insistence on the best quality merchandise displayed enticingly, his family said.

Generous to the Little Sisters of the Poor for decades, he would send them the freshest and best when they asked for donations of old produce. At holidays he prepared artistic and bountiful fruit baskets for the nuns and the people they helped.

Mr. Tumminello promoted produce from local farmers and Maryland varietals, boosting the local economy and preserving heirloom fruits and vegetables. In retirement, he kept in close contact with former staff.

Considered inventive and ingenious, he created garden soaker hoses in the 1940s and so thoroughly waterproofed his home on the Magothy River that Tropical Storm Isabel's three-foot-deep surrounding waters did not penetrate walls or floor.

An avid gardener, he grew Peace roses at his Ednor Gardens home and was noted for his sculptured shrubbery there and in Arnold. In their 70s, the Tumminellos began taking courses at Anne Arundel Community College.

He endeared himself to the staff and volunteers of Hospice of the Chesapeake by surviving more than five years beyond predictions of multiple cardiologists and by maintaining a feisty determined spirit, his family said.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by three daughters, Anne Marie Helbing of Ellicott City and Frances Senft and Anelle R. Muttinello, both of Arnold; four grandsons; and one great-granddaughter.

A memorial Mass will be offered at 11 a.m. Aug. 28 at St. Andrew by the Bay Catholic Church. Arrangements are by Barranco and Sons Severna Park Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Andrew by the Bay Catholic Church, 701 College Parkway, Annapolis, MD 21409; Hospice of the Chesapeake, 445 Defense Highway, Annapolis, MD 21401; or Little Sisters of the Poor, 601 Maiden Choice Lane, Catonsville, MD 21228.

As printed in the Capital Newspaper, Annapolis, MD on Friday, August 18, 2006