Lawrence L.J. "Pug" Pugliese

PUGLIESE, L.J. "Pug" Lawrence John Pugliese succumbed to heart disease on April 6, 2015. Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Pug spent his entire childhood in Southwest Florida and graduated from Sarasota High School in 1952. He moved his young family to West Palm Beach in 1959 to take a job transfer with FP&L. Pug retired from the company after a 37-year career as a helper, lineman, union representative, supervisor, and labor relations manager. In "retirement" he often returned to duty to help direct hurricane recovery operations and, among other things, bowled a 300 game, bicycled in century races, was an active scuba diver, built and played guitars, renovated homes, and travelled. Pug was a loving husband and diligent father who valued education and hard work. He was rewarded by attending graduations of his children and grandchildren from Princeton, Cornell, Tulane, Stanford, Boston University, and other renowned institutions. His children were state champions and nationally-ranked swimmers, and his grandchildren won accolades in figure skating, ice hockey, gymnastics, pole vault, swimming, diving, water polo, soccer, dance, and cross country. Pug was affable and generous to a fault; a loyal friend who never hesitated to lend a helping hand. He is survived by his devoted wife of 16 years, Alice Pugliese, her children Robert (Irma), Richard (Patricia), Lisa (Robert), and Michael (Jamie) and grandchildren Robbie, Keven, Derek, Justin, Ryan, Ashley, Bailey, Brooke, and Carly, and by his children Mark (Susan) of Washington, D.C., Victor (Laura) of Palo Alto, California, and Sue (Darrell) of Scottsdale, Arizona, and their children Dominick, Matthew, Xavier, and Bryant; Carla and Daniel; and Monica, Michael, Fiona, and Sophia. Visitation will be at Palms West Funeral Home in Royal Palm Beach on Thursday, April 9, from 2:00PM to 4:00PM and from 7:00PM to 9:00PM. Funeral mass will be at Our Lady Queen of the Apostles at 10:00AM on Friday, April 10. Pug will be laid to rest at Our Lady Queen of Peace. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory can be made to a charity of your choice.