STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Longtime Staten Islander Salvatore Testa, 73, of Oakwood, a retired Port Authority of New York and New Jersey employee, died Wednesday at his home.

Born in Manhattan, he settled in Oakwood in 1964.  A graduate of St. Francis Preparatory High School, which was then in Brooklyn, he received a bachelor of arts degree in accounting from Pace University in Manhattan.  Mr. Testa served with the Army during the Korean War, stationed in Germany.

For 43 years, he was an engineer analyst for the Port Authority, working in the agency's Manhattan headquarters. He retired in 1995.

A faith-filled man, according to family, Mr. Testa was a eucharistic minister for 25 years at the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in Charleston. He was a parishioner of St. Charles R.C. Church, Oakwood, and Holy Child R.C. Church, Westerleigh.  Mr. Testa also was active in the Cursillo Lay Movement within the church.
He enjoyed gardening and making folks smile.

Surviving are his wife of 50 years, the former Joan (Josephine) Crisa; his two sons, Anthony and Nicholas; his daughter, Anna Baldini; six grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

The funeral will be Saturday from the Colonial Funeral Home, New Dorp, with a mass at 10:45 a.m. in Holy Child Church. Burial will follow in Resurrection Cemetery, Pleasant Plains.