BRUNO S. MAZZEO
Contributed by Contributed September 25, 2008
ROCKLAND and JENSEN BEACH, Fla. – Bruno S. Mazzeo died Dec. 30, 2003, following a brief illness while recovering from a hip operation. One of 11 children, he was born Feb. 19, 1916, in Rockland, to Domenico and Carmela (Imbalzano) Mazzeo. A graduate of Rockland High School, he was on the football team and track team and held the RHS one mile record for 25 years before it was broken. Bruno’s interest in athletics continued throughout his life. A few of his many accomplishments during his running years include winning several Portland Boys Club 12 mile races, winning the C.R. Edwards Memorial Point of Pines 12 miler in Revere, Mass., three years straight, 1936, 1937 and 1938 and placing 7th in the Boston Marathon in 1944. Bruno placed 10th in the Boston Marathon in 1943 and 11th in 1942. In 1941, the day after having placed 13th in the Boston race, he returned to the Portland Shipyard and worked the night shift. The next day, with no sleep and having run 26 miles the day before, he ran and won, a five-mile Portland Boys Club race. The Portland papers called him “The Iron Man”. His running days ended after a fall in 1960 while working on construction, which left him with a pin in his ankle. Bruno was inducted into the Maine Running Hall of Fame Nov. 12, 1994. He was predeceased by his wife, Rita M. (Staples) Mazzeo, on Dec. 1, 2000, to whom he had been married for 60 years. He is survived by daughters, Algie Mazzeo, JoAnn Jennings and her husband, Cliff, Teresa Cecere and her husband, Paul; a sister, Teresa Thompson; 10 grandchildren, Robert Jr., Stephen, and Kenneth Fernald, Clayton E., and Dr. Kevin Witham, Craig Jennings, Michael, Mary Ann, Mathew, and Paul Cecere Jr.; 12 great-grandchildren, several nieces and nephews. Services will be announced at a later date and burial will be at St. James Cemetery in Thomaston. Memorial donations may be made to your local Diabetes Foundation charity.
