News

By Emily J. Minor

OCEAN RIDGE — Joseph A. Piantedosi Sr., the retired president of the Piantedosi Baking Co. Inc., who moved to Ocean Ridge 20 years ago after first trying Boca Raton and deciding condo living wasn’t for him, died Jan. 9.
He was 87.
Mr. Piantedosi is legendary for steering the family-owned the bakery business into modern operation. The Piantedosi Baking Co. began when Salvatore and Mary Piantedosi — Mr. Piantedosi’s parents — emigrated from Italy, settled outside Boston, and began baking bread and delivering it by horse and wagon.
Along with his two brothers, Mr. Piantedosi began learning the family business at a young age, eventually encouraging mechanical manufacturing that was unheard of in those days. He brought automated conveyor belts to the family business, establishing the groundwork for what the company is today: an international bakery distributor.
“He was ahead of his time,” said his son, Joseph Piantedosi Jr., who now runs the family business with his two cousins. “The things that he did, they said they couldn’t be done.”
After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Mr. Piantedosi traveled the world during the 1950s, snatching up ideas and equipment, said his son. He would bring it all home and cobble it together into a conveyor belt system, the likes of which are still used today.
Along with his savvy business acumen, Mr. Piantedosi loved both the mechanical and creative side of just about everything. The company began in the small town of Everett, outside Boston, and has its headquarters today not far away, in Malden, Mass.    Mr. Piantedosi was a devoted family man. When he died, he had been married to his wife, Elaine, for 61 years. Together, they embraced their Florida life after retirement, his son said.
While the couple did spend a few months at their home outside Boston each summer, they loved Ocean Ridge. Mr. Piantedosi especially loved tinkering with his boats, his son said.
“He loved maintaining the boat and cleaning it as much as he loved driving it,” his son said.
Besides his son, Joseph Jr., and his wife, Elaine, Mr. Piantedosi is survived by two daughters, Mary and JoAnn, three grandchildren and one great granddaughter.