Joseph "Buddy" P. Verdi's Obituary
Joseph “Buddy” Verdi died on Friday, July 17th, at Mease Hospital from complications of hip surgery.
Buddy was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 31, 1925, and was residing at Wilshire Boulevard in Dunedin at the time of his death; he has lived in Florida for the last 43 years, spending 25 of those happily with his significant other, Harriet Metzler. Buddy is survived by 2 children, 4 grandchildren, and 9 great grandchildren.
Buddy was well regarded in the area as a talented and versatile musician; he played many instruments including the trumpet, flugelhorn, vibes, and violin, and was an accomplished vocalist and MC as well. One local newspaper dubbed him the only living band leader of a big band and he certainly had many a following; Cypress Gardens and the Brown Derby Restaurants are just a few of the haunts where his groupies could hear him blow his beloved horn and sing, but Buddy especially loved going to the local elementary schools to play for the children and convey his love for music while teaching them about various instruments in the band. In the early ‘80s, Buddy founded the time-honored Jazz Holiday Festival which occurs every October in Clearwater and had his own radio show for many years every Saturday, playing music and educating his audience all about the big band era.
Buddy Verdi was also quite an entrepreneur: as a small business owner, he was a mortgage broker, real estate agent and appraiser, insurance agent, and a travel agent; he even ran a school for bartending as well as trying a stint as a restauranteur. Anyone who knew him well, knew that Buddy could not sit still for a moment, like the energizer bunny, he just kept on going and going and going. He served as Chief of Police of the Indian Rock Police Department, was a president of the musician’s union, a commander of the VFW, and a member of the American Legion and Elks Club, and was a HAM radio operator too.
But Buddy valued most his service in the navy during WWII. He bravely enlisted at 17 to go fight for his country and proudly served on the USS Missouri, Springfield, and Intrepid as one of the first radar operators; of course, with entertainment in his blood, he naturally served as the entertainment officer on board ship, making sure his fellow mates were amused and distracted as much as possible during difficult times.
Appropriately, Buddy would not be seen in public without wearing his beloved hats signifying the various boats he served on during WWII; he will be missed.
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