Arthur R. Spadafora, 98, of Woodbridge VA passed away peacefully at home on January 24th, 2021 with his family by his side. Arthur was born in 1922 to Pietro and Concetta Spadafora as the youngest of their 4 children. He had one brother and 2 sisters all whom proceeded him in death.
Born and raised in the Bronx NY, he had many stories of life during the depression. He spoke about getting ice for the icebox, his various jobs like the fruit stand, and hanging out with his friends. They were all either playing stickball, hanging out on the street corner, or in the alley playing with baseball cards. Baseball was his favorite sport throughout life and stickball was his favorite sport to play. They would even play games against other neighboring teams. When he played stickball they only had one ball between all of them and they used a broomstick as a bat. From stickball grew his love for baseball. He grew up as an avid NY Yankee fan and remembered seeing many famous players play like Lou Gehrig, Whitey Ford and Babe Ruth. He always enjoyed watching his grandsons play and went to all their games. He was what seemed like a permanent fixture along the fence cheering them on as they came up to bat.
His adult years saw a move to NJ and a 35 year career at the Ford Motor Company as an electrician, then additionally Chilton Hospital after that. Later in life, he moved to Virginia to spend more time with his family which was always most important to him. He was known as Papa to all who knew him, family and friends alike.
He is survived by his daughter Laura, Son in Law LTC, USA (Ret) Robert Cheripka, and 3 grandchildren, Alicia, Michael, and Andrew.
Services are private.
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