Tile contractors eye for detail earned respect

Published: Wednesday, April 2, 2014, 12:01a.m. Updated 20 hours ago

Gene Massaro began working for his father and uncle as a stonemason, helping on such iconic projects as the fountain at Point State Park. But he made his mark moving the family business from stone work to tile.

He thought there was more business to interior flooring as opposed to exterior stonemasonry, said Jon O'Brien, spokesman for the Master Builders' Association in Green Tree. He loved his trade. His attention to detail was second to none.

Eugene Gene J. Massaro died on Monday, March 31, 2014, at his home in Monroeville. He was 82.

He was born to Mary and Joseph Massaro and grew up in Lincoln-Larimer. He played football for Westinghouse High School and the University of Louisville and served in the Army during the Korean War.

He started working in the family business, Massaro Brothers, in 1955 and was a member of Bricklayers Local 9 ever since. He helped build St. Raphael Church in Morningside and worked on projects for the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University. In 1974, he became president of Massaro Brothers, which eventually became Massaro Industries. He helped it grow into one of the largest tile contractors in Western Pennsylvania.

Recent projects include the flooring tile at UPMC East in Monroeville, Bethel Park High School and HYATT house Pittsburgh-South Side.

He's highly respected among the construction community, someone you can rely on if you hire the company, O'Brien said. When you look at the floor, it looks amazing. Like many industries, schedules are always important. If he said it was going to be built by that date, it was going to happen.

Mr. Massaro is survived by his wife, Kenita Massaro of Monroeville; his ex-wife, Lucy Massaro; daughters, Patricia Argentieri of Florida, and Nancy Hammill, Mary Jo Massaro and Karen Zavacky, all of Plum; sons, Jim Massaro of Penn Hills and Michael Massaro of California; stepson, Scott Hutsenpiller of Portland, Ore.; brother, Joseph Massaro; 18 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

Mr. Massaro was preceded in death by his brother, Gerard Massaro.

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Tile contractors eye for detail earned respect