1961 On July 22, Peter Melocco died and the congregation at his funeral filled St Mary’s Cathedral. He had been a patriarch and a visionary. His life had been devoted to his family, to his community and to his art. Aside from his tireless work with Melocco Brothers, he had spent ten years as a Director of the Prince Alfred Hospital and seven years as a Director of the Chamber of Italian Commerce. In 1946, the Italian Government had conferred on him the honour of Knight and in 1950 he had received the Medal of Merit from King George VI of England. After his death and in recognition of his life’s work, Melocco Brothers received the highest international honour for marble and mosaic from the United States National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association.

 

“My father expected himself and everybody else to be perfect. He was a hard taskmaster. He sacrificed more for his work and his art than he should have. He denied himself so much but he adored working. I never crossed him. No-one stood up to him. You’d walk into a room and feel the vibrations — and he was a little guy. We all wanted his approval. I still do.” — John Melocco

 

“I don’t think I ever heard my father call Uncle Peter by his first name.
He was always ‘The Boss.’” — Ann Melocco Trenoweth

 

“Peter was an exceptional person — small in stature but big in wisdom, audacious, brilliant and fatherly, living his life with immense simplicity in true Friulano fashion.” — Joseph Tonitto